Ski Club 2.0 Home
Snow Reports
FAQFAQ

Mail for help.Help!!

Log in to snowHeads to make it MUCH better! Registration's totally free, of course, and makes snowHeads easier to use and to understand, gives better searching, filtering etc. as well as access to 'members only' forums, discounts and deals that U don't even know exist as a 'guest' user. (btw. 50,000+ snowHeads already know all this, making snowHeads the biggest, most active community of snow-heads in the UK, so you'll be in good company)..... When you register, you get our free weekly(-ish) snow report by email. It's rather good and not made up by tourist offices (or people that love the tourist office and want to marry it either)... We don't share your email address with anyone and we never send out any of those cheesy 'message from our partners' emails either. Anyway, snowHeads really is MUCH better when you're logged in - not least because you get to post your own messages complaining about things that annoy you like perhaps this banner which, incidentally, disappears when you log in :-)
Username:-
 Password:
Remember me:
👁 durr, I forgot...
Or: Register
(to be a proper snow-head, all official-like!)

Off-piste faces curbs following deaths in the alps

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Not much in the papers today on skiing matters but the following article caught my eye. The article concerns the death of Doug Coombs.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2189765,00.html
ski holidays
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
hibernia, I had't heard that the Frech are discussig new legislation, I'm pretty sure they're not, ad i any case the French are just as keen on personal responsibility in general as the HMGs are credited with being i the article!!
snow report
 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?
hibernia, thanks for the link. Four paragraphs from the end it says "of the 53 [skiers/boarders caught in avalanches and] who died, 25 were off piste." Is this right? I wasn't aware that there was any on-piste avalanche fatalities this year?
snow report
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
rob@rar.org.uk, yes I see that, and I agree it does not make sense - I remember seeing some interim figures a month or so ago in pisteurs ( spel?) and certainly that was not the impression I got - perhaps one or two casualties on-piste, if even that.

Regarding easiski, 's point - although I do not follow what goes on in the French legislature closely, again that would be news to me if curbs were being contemplated.

It is IMV a weak article, which probably would have been served better if it had been written on the life of Doug Coombs.
snow conditions
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
The French Sports Minister made rumblings about this weeks ago, it's an old quote. I think Times Online must have been using old news to give an angle to more recent events. Nothing of this in the French press for some time.
ski holidays
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
easiski wrote:
hibernia, I had't heard that the Frech are discussig new legislation, I'm pretty sure they're not, ad i any case the French are just as keen on personal responsibility in general as the HMGs are credited with being i the article!!


As far as I can see the article is pretty much cribbed from this one that appeared in the NY Times

Skiing Beyond Safety's Edge Once Too Often

There is a meeting in June to discuss this year's accidents but Jean-Francois Lamour said in a press conference that he was not considering any legislation. (see this article from PH.com French Sports Minister Criticizes Backcountry Enthusiasts)


Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Sun 21-05-06 19:31; edited 1 time in total
ski holidays
 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Now you mention it, very similar in tone, and 'interesting' timing wink. Pretty poor journalism, especially with the Lamour quote dating back 7 weeks or more, which is not the impression you get from the Times Online piece rolling eyes.
latest report
 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
when we were at a 5/5 this year they threatened to fine anyone who went off piste, but aparently it was ok lower down in the trees just not on open faces.

check out pist hors if you wanna no if its true, they tend to know everything that is going on re slides and snow related stuff anyway

p.s you know how the americans love to make such a big fuss over everything!
snow conditions
 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.
snowangel: I dont think fines are the right response.
If the avalanche risk is 5/5 (avalanches likely) then anyone going skiing off-piste should know that there will be no rescue: unjured or dead, they are on their own.
It is quite wrong to put the rescue services in danger as well.
snow report
 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
rob@rar.org.uk,
Quote:

Four paragraphs from the end it says "of the 53 [skiers/boarders caught in avalanches and] who died, 25 were off piste." Is this right? I wasn't aware that there was any on-piste avalanche fatalities this year?


From memory they seperate off piste from ski touring/ moutaineering so I assume the others were outwith areas that are readily reachable from lifts rather than on piste.
ski holidays
 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
T Bar wrote:
rob@rar.org.uk,
Quote:

Four paragraphs from the end it says "of the 53 [skiers/boarders caught in avalanches and] who died, 25 were off piste." Is this right? I wasn't aware that there was any on-piste avalanche fatalities this year?


From memory they seperate off piste from ski touring/ moutaineering so I assume the others were outwith areas that are readily reachable from lifts rather than on piste.


Yep, it's the touring that makes the majority of the rest - scroll to the bottom of the pistehors statistics here -

french ski fatality statistics 2005/06
snow report
 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.
At the top of the article they say nothing about avalanches and simply add him to the list of those 53 who died (he and his friend sound as if they just fell, there was no avalanche mentioned). I am not sure on what basis you added the bit about avalanches - must have been information from elsewhere. I had assumed from the information that the others died on piste.
latest report
 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
snowball wrote:
I am not sure on what basis you added the bit about avalanches - must have been information from elsewhere. I had assumed from the information that the others died on piste.


I added the bit (mistakenly?) because that is what I assumed the piece was trying to infer. As far as I'm aware there weren't 27 on-piste fatalities in France this year?
snow report
 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
rob@rar.org.uk, I thought it was 50 odd off piste avalanche deaths. People die every year on piste, but not usually in large numbers!

snowangel., davidof, is piste hors! Very Happy
latest report
 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
snowball wrote:
At the top of the article they say nothing about avalanches and simply add him to the list of those 53 who died (he and his friend sound as if they just fell, there was no avalanche mentioned). I am not sure on what basis you added the bit about avalanches - must have been information from elsewhere. I had assumed from the information that the others died on piste.


Snowball, this is typical journalistic conflation. The original article talks about Doug Coombs then quotes a figure of "53" ski deaths which is an out of date figure refering to avalanche fatalities that was mentioned in the already out of date New York Times article the Sunday Times journalist copied for his piece.

The figure of 53 avalanche deaths arose subsequent to a meeting between French Sports Minister Jean-François Lamour and members of the rescue services early in April.

There have, of course, been other deaths both on and off piste due to a range of circumstances. The most accurate information I have been able to piece together for the two Savoies is here

Fewer fatalities in the Haute-Savoie in 2006

This information comes from the Prefet's office for the Savoie and Haute-Savoie but I cross checked it with the rescue services because I noticed errors in the Prefet's figures (something the French press didn't do which is why their reports were wrong). Okay, as the French might say J'encule les mouches a bit but it seems like the ST article is confusing people somewhat.


Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Sun 21-05-06 22:35; edited 1 time in total
snow report
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
davidof, thanks. Glad that there are still people concerned with accuracy.
snow report



Terms and conditions  Privacy Policy