This great shot from Zermatt Guide and all round Alpine legend Sam Anthamatten gives a frightening wake-up call on the crevasse danger lurking on the glaciers at the moment
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Good post, great picture, sound advice. @BobinCH,
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?
In some ways more dangerous are bridges over streams. Quite a few alpinists have been killed by these late season nasties as if you are caught by the river you have very little chance of escape.
some ways more dangerous are bridges over streams. Quite a few alpinists have been killed by these late season nasties as if you are caught by the river you have very little chance of esc
Though there can be miracles - Swedish skier trapped under ice for 80 minutes, suffered cardiac arrest after 40 mins - then made full recovery...
Its quite sobering to look at the places you ride on glacier this year, this is from hintertux, and this place is very popular for offpiste from the chairlift and to the right its actually black run is located.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I remember in the mid 90s when the ice there on Hintertux was much thicker there was a wide cravasse across that area mid way up. Early season once it was it was just hidden, someone went through, we saw a big rescue ongoing, it looked like they did the lift out using a helicopter. The word later at the café was it was a fatality but probably just conjecture.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Yep at Stubai there are also a lot of crevasses right next to the pistes, on slopes that are popular offpiste routes. These from 2012 (so definitely more open now):
And from inside one of the above (deliberately!) in 2016 or 17:
Be very very careful on the glaciers this year!
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Only small cracks and rivers on piste at Hintertux, interesting vid here I found randomly of a late summer run from the top to the Tuxerfernhaus. However I have been on it like this as early as late June in a bad year.
Going over this stuff trashes your gear as the ice is covered in gravel.
I was on the stubai gletscher over the weekend. Some nice snow but big cracks everywhere that didn't really concern me it was the ones i couldn't see.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Turned out OK but cautionary tale - Lads trip to Cham 2003, 8 of us went up Grand Montets and skied carefully down through the crevasses, went clockwise off the top, great snow, one of our team knew the area well. Unfortunately one of the guys hadn't clipped into his binding properly and one of his skis came off - he skied straight down a crevasse, landed on his back on a snow bridge. Helicopter winched him out as we all stood around a safe distance back from the crevasse rim, and took him straight off to hospital but we could hear him shouting saying he was OK as he was plucked out.....we had no idea where he'd gone to hospital. His wife calling that evening said he'd not been in touch, his best mate with us (friends of friends) told her he was in hospital, that didn't go down well! 2 days later he was back and skied the Vallee Blanche with us with a guide, and we saw a group of snowboarders hiking back up, no guide looking for their 2 friends who it turned out were missing on the Mer de Glace, never did hear the outcome of that.
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.
@JimboS, I did that once. September is not a good time for the Tux!
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
Summer 1991 I was staying on a camp site near Chamonix for a few days. English family in caravan next to my tent - she did triathlons, saw her on TV a few months later. They went for a walk by the edge of a glacier (not sure which one) and found an old climbing boot .... with the foot still inside.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
195062 wrote:
Summer 1991 I was staying on a camp site near Chamonix for a few days. English family in caravan next to my tent - she did triathlons, saw her on TV a few months later. They went for a walk by the edge of a glacier (not sure which one) and found an old climbing boot .... with the foot still inside.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
geoffers wrote:
@davidof,
Quote:
some ways more dangerous are bridges over streams. Quite a few alpinists have been killed by these late season nasties as if you are caught by the river you have very little chance of esc
Though there can be miracles - Swedish skier trapped under ice for 80 minutes, suffered cardiac arrest after 40 mins - then made full recovery...
I'm 99% sure this is the case that to this day effects how emergency responders deal with people in the water. If it's not this one, then it's a very similar incident.
I'm a firefighter and often we are the first on scene for people in the water (inland). We work up to 90 minutes of being submersed as a saveable life because of this case. Obviously in the UK the water temperature is never going to be cold enough to create the situation of "stasis" that the ice cold Norwegian water did and unfortunately, most people submerged in cold UK water won't make it after a few minutes. Interestingly, the ambulance service only work to 60 minutes, due to their much more wider medical knowledge and it's their responsibility to declare "life extinct".
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
195062 wrote:
... found an old climbing boot .... with the foot still inside.
In UK you have to be careful with finding body parts, as at least a few years ago doing that and reporting it would cause the inquest for whoever's part it was to be re-opened.
The Swedish lady in Norway is an interesting and counter-intuitive case. There are other cases I recall hearing about of drownings, where cold water induced bradycardia was credited with people surviving, albeit at much warmer temperatures.
In BC I've seen two people fall in creeks over the years. Both were uninjured, but soaked through in minus 20 or so. That's a quick crevasse rescue followed by rapid heli-evac to the warmth. That's one where the bad thing hasn't happened, and if you move quickly enough it won't. Both were fine. Worth having planned what to do in those situations before you need to do it.
@BobInCH thanks for the reminder. I’m always horrified at the number of people ‘just cutting off the corner to the right’ below the Klein Matterhorn lift despite the many signs warning of crevasses. I believe two boarders lost their lives falling into a crevasse there last season although that could be hearsay. However, a very telling reminder of what can lie beneath a seemingly innocent and tempting slope.
Basically, it appears to show a hole down into a crevasse on a marked run (which I believe is on the glacier in Saas Fee).
It is Sass Fee. They have to fill in the crevasses on that run every year before opening it, and they know what they are doing! But it does make the point that skiing even one metre off the piste can be deadly there. Just don't even think about doing it. There are a couple of guides I trust that I do ski with on that side of the Sass Fee area, both live there and spend a lot of time on the glacier in all seasons so know exactly where the issues are. But even then it is a risky enterprise. What is interesting, though, is there are large areas marked as no go due to glacier/crevase, but as the glacier has receded so far and quickly are actually off the glacier and perfectly safe. If you know what you are doing and get good conditions, Sass Fee is much much better than many think for off-piste.
^^^^That's rather alarming @sugarmoma666 I'm assuming that the authorities must have been aware though, and deemed it safe
Not a chance. If they knew that was there, it would have warnings all around it!!! And I guess they’d get the piste bashers to fill it in as much as they could to reduce the risk that someone falls in
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
A guy I know skied past his guide (who had stopped abruptly and shouted) and into a crevasse.
He fell until he ended up lodged on his side, jammed by his helmet and shoulder. Unclear how much deeper the crevasse went but quite a way!
The guide's rope wasn't long enough to reach him so waited for the heli winch which got him out after about 45 minutes - hypothermia, some broken bones in chest and shoulder.
He was an ex-Army helicopter pilot so probably had a bit of an advantage in staying calm in a bit of a traumatic setting!!
That story alone is enough to make me very cautious on glaciers!
After all it is free
After all it is free
I suppose it depends where in the world you ride and the type of glaciation. Where I ride, I'm not going to be on flat stuff, and you can see the lines of the crevasses in the "features" above them. So it's a matter of not riding down the bottom of whatever probably has a snow plug in it. So long as you can see what's in front of you, riding fast is going to help avoid anything completely invisible. Having buddies who aren't close to you but who know you're supposed to be there seems like an obvious good idea.
I've only really seen those "I went in up to my armpits" type holes in the Alps in summer. They're not really scary on skis as you'd have a really hard job inserting yourself into one.
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@jedster,
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Quote:
He was an ex-Army helicopter pilot so probably had a bit of an advantage in staying calm in a bit of a traumatic setting!!
And learned not to overtake his guide!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Origen wrote:
Quote:
He was an ex-Army helicopter pilot so probably had a bit of an advantage in staying calm in a bit of a traumatic setting!!
And learned not to overtake his guide!
Quite!
I think the actual learning was don't ski so close to your guide that you can't react in time but the point stands
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