Chavanette death inquest reported today

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Reported today in the press but well discussed here previously.

British skier died after ignoring signs ‘Swiss Wall’ was closed
Inquest hears that Grahame Carter suffered injuries ‘incompatible with survival’ after disregarding warning that feared black run was shut
Telegraph Reporters10 September 2024 • 4:17pm

Grahame Carter died on Pas De Chavanette piste, known as one of the most dangerous slopes in the world
A British skier died after ignoring signs that a notorious black run dubbed the “Swiss Wall” was closed, an inquest heard.
Grahame Carter, 47, lost control skiing down the steep run in Portes du Soleil near Champery, Switzerland.
The father-of-two’s “violent” fall down the black run was witnessed by another skier, who said he saw Mr Carter falling “head over foot” down the 37 degree incline in February.
Mr Carter, who was wearing a helmet, lost his skis during the fall and suffered injuries “incompatible with survival”, according to a coroner.
The inquest at Horsham Coroner’s Court heard that the Pas De Chavanette piste, known as one of the most dangerous slopes in the world, was closed because of dangerous, icy conditions.
But the inquest heard Mr Carter, from Westhampnett, Chichester, “ignored” the warnings.
‘I have never seen that in my life’
In a statement read to court, the skier who witnessed the tragedy said: “At around 9.40am as I got on the chair lift I saw this person take a difficult slope. He took a big fall after about 20 metres from the start of the slope.
“The fall was violent and the skier did not stop. He was sliding in all directions then he started to go head over foot. I have never seen that in my life and it was very shocking.
“As the fall went on the skier picked up more and more speed. He stopped about 20 metres before the end of the field.”
The witness said they called emergency services, adding: “Once I reached the top of the chair lift, I saw the slope was closed and rescuers were on site.”
Mr Carter was pronounced dead on the slope around an hour later.

Grahame Carter suffered a 'shocking' fall on the dangerous black run
Dr Karen Henderson, the coroner, ruled the death was an accident and gave Mr Carter’s cause of death as traumatic head injury.
Mr Carter worked as chief sales officer at recruitment agency Gattaca in Whiteley, near Fareham, Hampshire. Roma Carter, his wife, read a statement to the inquest paying tribute to her husband’s “zest for life”. She said he was “fabulously competitive, both in general life, workplace and sports teams”.
Mrs Carter said: “He was never one to remain in his comfort zone, he was unashamedly himself. He was always present, he was always available and unerringly reliable to friends and family alike.
“He was ethical, fun, inspiring, determined, inclusive, selfless and compassionate. He laughed a lot and not at others’ expense.
“He was phenomenal, gregarious, warm-hearted and most importantly he was always kind. Everyone always felt a little better after a little dose of Grahame. He is irreplaceable and the world is a worse place without him.”
‘I admire his spirit’
Giving her conclusion, Dr Henderson said: “It was a black slope known to be very difficult and you need to have a good level of skiing to do it. The slope was closed. Unfortunately Mr Carter ignored these warnings. The findings are compatible with a violent fall.”
She added: “He loved being competitive. He didn’t do it to hurt other people, it was just part of his drive and personality.
“He was fully geared up with a helmet and suchlike in the hope that would give him protection but sadly it didn’t.
“At the point he was found, his injuries were such that they were incompatible with his survival.
“There is only one conclusion I can give which is an accident. This was an unintended consequence of a voluntary act. I admire his spirit and his wish to undertake such sports.”

A snowHead

Not sure what an inquest adds to the bleedin obvious. Clearly no one to blame but the victim himself.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I can't help wondering if the French ski patrol would have had to ski down to attempt a rescue, possibly in the knowledge the victim had just rag-dolled down the same slope.

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@Dave of the Marmottes, I’ve skied that run in good conditions but would never attempt it if closed. The coroners comment to say she admired his spirit rather than condemn his actions isn’t helpful.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

There's a bit of performative solace for the deceased's family but I agree it doesn't help in general for those scoffing at advice not to be called out for the consequences. No resort closes terrain just for giggles.

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So an over competitive bloke ignores warning signs, the clear closure of a ski run and falls to his death. I though inquests were there simply to establish the facts not to gloss over a bad decision or to overlay guesses as to motive.

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@ster, I haven’t seen any outcomes but the Swiss opened an investigation into the circumstances, which I imagine would be a bit more insightful.

After all it is free

@andy from embsay, as @Dave of the Marmottes said, I think that is all there is to it, I suspect there is nothing much else to be gleaned?

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@ster, not sure. There’s pistes that are closed because they have rocky/bare patches and others because they’re dangerous (avalanche, ice etc). From what I recall this was a big net right across the entry - maybe they’ll want to look into whether they can stop others doing the same. If I remember on several days they opened it later in the day when the sun had been on it.

@andy from embsay, you’ll never stop people from getting around that, short of properly fencing off the entirely hillside or having guards posted every 20 metres. He made a decision with high risk involved and came off badly.

You know it makes sense.

If a piste is prone to being icy in the morning, 9.40am is still quite early, isn't it? (I don't know the slope at all.) Must have been utterly horrific to witness. Crying or Very sad

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Hurtle, It’s a very steep and usually moguled slope. I skied it with my son when it had good snow cover, so not too difficult. If icy and moguled it’s a different proposition because of the steepness and if you started to slide then the moguls would launch you in the air, so very difficult to control and hence the horrific description of his decent. It’s a slope I did many years ago in good conditions but I wouldn’t attempt it now.

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I've seen people fall in the Alps climbing, and it's unpleasant to watch. Time slows down. The acceleration is what makes that look bad very fast. And you have to get ready to deal with it. I've not seen anything really bad at resorts.

Perhaps the people who admire Scott of the Antarctic are admiring his spirit more than his competence also? I think it would be poor form for a coroner to say anything more negative: They're not passing judgement on the choices made, which manifestly were very poor.

A snowHead

Scott was exploring the unknown, there wasn’t a nice manual or signs to follow saying you need to put your food dumps closer together as you really only can travel less than you think each day or you will likely die. This guy ducks under a fence of a known very hard ski run.

From the comments the coroner when past their remit and was overly positive about his motivations and subsequent actions.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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@clarky999, well said. A terrible shock for the family.

The victim was unlucky not to survive such a fall.

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@davidof, I don’t often disagree with you but

1. Not a “victim”
2. Not “unlucky”
3. Back in the day when it was busy I would strongly discourage my groups (animateur/accompagnateur?) from the Wall as in good conditions the top slope was way too much for most and the rest wasn’t much fun either. I also didn’t enjoy the gravity ballistics round my ears either.

Sometimes, “closed” means “closed”.

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@under a new name, indeed. He would be lucky to have survived but not surviving was not unlucky. Sadly he was the sole architect of his demise, thats not being unkind, its just a fact.

After all it is free

@under a new name, Yes, I agree, but c'mon, we've all been there, haven't we? Not necessarily literally, but who amongst us has not skied down a closed run at some point, and most likely a closed run that you've never skied before? I know I have, back when I was inexperienced and over-confident.

Yes, foolhardy, but there but for the grace of god...

@Chaletbeauroc, for sure. I didn’t mean to come across as harsh. Been there.

Actually, been exactly there. To pisteurs in hut at top, “why closed?” “Cos’ it’s blud ice top to bottom” “Oh”

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Yup, I don’t think a finding of accidental death will help in this case.

Thats part if the reason I don’t ski closed pistes (can’t say I’ve always stuck with that but try to now but I wouldn’t go down a closed black!), apart from it potentially being very dangerous.

You know it makes sense.

When I first went skiing with the now Mrs SL I was somewhat taken aback when she skied under a rope with the Piste Ferme sign clearly on display. What I didn’t realise at the time was there was a subtext in very fine writing that said “except for Mrs SL’s party”. She had been skiing the area for 15 years and knew (99% of the time) why a piste was closed and how to mitigate it (usually poor cover, which required some walking). The point being that if you are going to ignore signs you really do need to know what you are doing and be able to manage the risks. You do see people playing Russian roulette in all sorts of places - clearly up to them. They of course usually get away with it. I just sometimes worry that it encourages other folk who have not considered the risk or the competence of the folk already doing it.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

The worst example I've seen in recent times is large numbers of people going round a piste closure sign to ski the easy blue loop road down to Orelle rather than take the hard and mogulled steeper red. Ignoring that it was a very warm spring day with plenty of evidence of big wet slides on the slope above them. "It's only a blue" mentality taken to stupid levels.

A snowHead

Of course the off piste next to a closed piste is not closed: it is just "at your own risk" like all off-piste.

A snowHead

@phil_w, I’ve skied “closed” a few times with the pisteurs who closed them …

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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@Mjit,

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

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Chavanette death inquest reported today

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