Amazingly uninjured and very calm! Nice of him to share the beautiful, but scary interior of the crevasse on film, a scary reminder of the dangers of glacier skiing.............
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I'm scared just watching this. God knows how he was really feeling.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
This is why you take a guide when on glaciers.
He was lucky it was narrow crevasse, that he rattled down and slowed himself. I really wouldn't have taken my board or skis off. One of the first things you should learn is keep your skis on to distribute the pressure. There are plenty of cases of being safe on skis, and then stepping out of your bindings and punching through a snow bridge
Also a reminder to keep your spacing when on glaciers, only one person should ever fall in, if more than that you are too close.
I've skied that area many times. It's interesting that when people ski the Valle Blanche they take all the glacier kit, i.e. Ropes, harnesses, ice screws, pulleys, etc. However it's very common, (myself included) to ski off piste off the top of GM with only basic avi gear. A couple of years back a guide running a crevasse rescue course in that area fell in a crevasse and died leaving his course on the surface. It's a potentially dangerous spot winter and summer. I once saw a measle map of the range with a dot on it for each fatality, approx half were in the Argentiere basin.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
He did not fall very far and he knew was being picked up. No need to get in a flap about it.
Watch the girl in this video, her guide is just in front of her, on the VB normal route. The guide would have been sipping his beer in the Bar Nat before he'd noticed he'd lost a client if someone hadn't shouted to him
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@davidof,
After all it is free
After all it is free
Terrible
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@Hurtle, C'est normale.
(Do we have a smiley for a Gallic shrug?)
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Non, ce n'est absolument pas normale!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Trouble is that many who ski the VB are not competent off piste skiers as per that girl in the video who was nigh on snow ploughing (speed is your friend)
I've only been up the Aiguille once and was stunned at the people doing it and the skis etc (carvers) that they were using and then witnessed the panic on their faces as they descended down on foot from the tunnel entrance.
You can see the zig-zag path for an easier route down, even though it was gridlock
The hordes then go off to ski the VB and like I said numbers were bonkers. And then numpties will stop to take photos, or just stop because they're knackered and have no experience of skiing with a guide and ignore any advice he might deem to tell them.
And then I can only imagine the angst when they get to the end and the Fat Germans then have to climb back up to the Gondola.
But for sure it's dangerous terrain (putting it mildly), route we took down had a few lines where you had nigh on a path to schuss between crevasses either side and does get your sphincter going
Plus when skiing glacial terrain you're usually roped for skinning / travelling up (as you're so much slower) rather than the ski down
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
It's not my cup of tea.
But what precisely are the rescue/ accident stats there? The idea of large numbers of novice skiers in wild terrain doesn't seem great to me, but how many of them actually get hurt/ die?
If I was there I think I'd be looking for a novice-free route down though - it can't be fun working your way around snowploughing people.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Hurtle wrote:
Non, ce n'est absolument pas normale!
C'est normale pour un guide de l'haute montagne.
It always amazes me how far guides ski in front of their clients. On the other hand, when I've been in situations where the guide has needed get get back up the hill to reach a client, he's done so a lot quicker than I would have imagined.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
