 Poster: A snowHead
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Several British Pro riders, including Sam Cullum, Jamie Nicholls, Nelson Pratt, Ed Gunn and Andy Rivers, where trapped in a Jandrì Express cable car in Les Deux Alpes for over 4 hours on Monday, while it was battered by 80mph winds. Eventually, resort crew pulled themselves along the cables and helped the trapped riders abseil 150ft to safety. Luckily, apart from some motion sickness, bumps and bruises all were safe....Video: http://www.tacky.it/snowboard/videos/vis_video.asp?id=60590
From: http://www.snowboardclub.co.uk/tb.php?1185400427,74119,
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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 Now that's what I call a bit windy.
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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?
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helped the trapped riders abseil 150ft to safety.
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good job they were pro priders, not old ladies on a day out.
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4hrs swinging like that.....I would have jumped after 20 minutes
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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reminds me of some of the rides at alton towers!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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That's all my fears about going on Gondola's confirmed.
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Eeck!
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PSB anyone?
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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.
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I wonder how quickly an unexpectedly that wind came up.
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I bet they were packing their load.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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That's all my fears about going on Gondola's confirmed
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Imagine if it had been a chairlift. 
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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.
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Swing low ...
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| 4hrs swinging like that.....I would have jumped after 20 minutes |
I am with FTS on this one. It fills me with horror.
They don't actually look that well designed in order to stand up to wind conditions with that long pole that just invites the gondola to swing.
OMG I feel really sick
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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God that was nasty-we were on the gondola only a few days before.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I was in it last month in winds high enough to close the upper half & glacier - it swayed a bit worringly at times. (I walked back to the villiage, but that had been in the plan)
Between throwing up I think I would have tried some active damping motion control
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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?
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Disturbing that either the Jandri Express was allowed to operate in the face of a horrific weather forecast, or the weather forecast did not warn of such strong winds.
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achilles, but I would hope that there would be a weather station(s) with little twirly windspeed anemometers mounted along the pylons.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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was there a horrific forecast or was it just a freak change in weather? Certainly Monday dawned fine and sunny in Monetier, but changed quite suddenly just before lunch. The wind usually gets up early afternoon, but not that dramatically!!
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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.
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I don't know about Pro Riders and Grannies but there were a lot of children in those gondolas, including my 14 year old son and some others he was with as young as 9 year olds . It was 2 1/2 hours before the rescuers were called in and 6 1/2 hours before they got out. One of the rescue vehicles rolled over and then to top it all they were told to get in another cable car and then a chair lift to get back down the mountain!
Some families were split up with the children in gondolas without their parents. Well that might be the last time I let mine go in a "childrens lift" while the adults go in the one behind. Some groups were also split up with some left hanging in the gondolas while the others waited at the top wondering what to do.
The mind boggles. I can't tell you some of the conversations that were going on in there!
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SKaz, welcome to Snowheads. A quite hideous experience for you all and I am sorry your first post was under such circumstances. A first hand experience is always appreciated but if I was going to descibe a nightmare then your gondola ride would have been right up there at the top.
Was everyone evacuated by rope?
Good look getting you and your family back on a lift.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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.
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SKaz, welcome to  . I hope you all recover from your nasty experience.
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SKaz, welcome to snowheads. Did the emergency services have to let the storm die out, somewhat, before they could rescue you? It looked to me that attempted recue during the violent oscillations might do more harm than good.
boredsurfin, I also hope the lift company and emergency services have had a serious post-incident wash-up to try to prevent such an incedent happening again - and to have better recovery management methods, if possible, should the worst happen. Looking at some of the gondola movement, I don't see how an evacuation could have taken pace at the height of the storm.
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You know it makes sense.
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| achilles wrote: |
| Disturbing that either the Jandri Express was allowed to operate in the face of a horrific weather forecast, or the weather forecast did not warn of such strong winds. |
You don't think that Meteo Chance would leave there weather forecasts online somewhere though do you? 
I checked some amateur sites on the web, for the 23rd for the alps they said:
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"Vents du sud à sud-ouest devenant forts à tempétueux en montagne, tendance au foehn dans les Alpes." |
and this is Meteo Cham's forecast, obviously for the Haute-Savoie:
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AUJOURD'HUI - LUNDI 23 JUILLET
Soleil voilé le matin - arrivée d'une perturbation très active l'après-midi - vent fort en altitude
ÉTAT DU CIEL (nébulosité - ensoleillement) : peu nuageux en début de matinée - devenant nuageux, puis très nuageux - nuages élevés de plus en plus épais - se couvrant l'après-midi - ensoleillement proche de 40%.
PRÉCIPITATIONS : pluies débutant vers le milieu de l'après-midi - localement fortes et orageuses - limite pluie-neige s'abaissant vers 3000 m.
VENT - fond de vallée : variable faible le matin - coup de fœhn probable en milieu de journée.
- moyenne montagne : SE faible -> SW modéré à fort.
- haute montagne : SW modéré à fort -> tempétueux.
TEMPÉRATURE : mini +7°C - maxi +22°C.
ISOTHERME 0°C : 3600 -> 3200 m.
ISOTHERME -10°C : 5000 -> 4500 m. |
and this from Meteo Consult for les 2 alpes
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Etablissement d'un vent fort l'après-midi. |
so strong to tempestuous winds forecast for the afternoon - although anyone who lives in the alps knows that timings are only accurate to +/ 4hours.
Les Deux Alps would have had a rescue plan in place for lowering people from gondola's, chairs etc. I assume what Easkiski is saying is they had no plan B in case of high winds. The glacier is reachable by car so they could have started getting people off the glacier area that way. Although maybe the winds were too strong to send vehicles up.
Its dangerous to operate gondola lifts in such strong winds. I would be tempted to write to the lift company with copies to the mayor and prefet asking for a proper investigation. I expect the lift co. will just hope everyone forgets about it.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Thank you for all your kind wishes. In fact I was in England at the other end of the phone while the children were in the gondolas with the rest of their team and their trainers. I will pass your messages on to them.
Yes the rescuers did have to wait for the wind to die down before they could get any one out. Several of them came from the local High Ropes Park in Venosc. A HUGE THANK YOU MUST GO TO THEM for the very brave work they did rescuing everyone. They put their own lives at risk with a lot of the work they do.
The rescuers had to climb up the pilons, zip wire along the cables between the gondolas and then climb down into the top of each gondola. Then they forced the main doors open and put each person into a harrness and winched them down to the arms of rescuers waiting below. Then they were taken by 4 wheel drive vehicles (it was one of those that rolled over) to the cable car station in orer to catch a cable car down the mountain!
Incidentally a lot of equipment (skis, boots, poles boards etc) had to be left in the lifts so the lift company had to retrieve all of that from the lifts as well and make sure it got back to the right people the next day.
Yes, we too hope the lift companies take a look at their safety procedures.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Being stuck in one of those things must have been horrifying, and obviously it shouldn't have been running, but as someone above has pointed out, it is reassuring that nothing broke, despite winds which were obviously way outside the safe operating limits of the lift. SKaz, it's at times like these that maybe it would be good to be back in the era before mobile phones. I hope your family recovers without long term problems - I can imagine that an experience like that could mark the end of some people's ski careers.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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?
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admin, I like the picture of the boards being rescued.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Didn't realise it was so bad until I saw that video . Pleased we were in Lyon buying a kitchen instead of skiing on glacier now!!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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R32, welcome back to Geordieland
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Gulp - makes any bad trip on a gondola or chair seem tame! Surprised no one was seriously hurt in those cabins.
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FAQ
as Frosty has said above lests hope all involved can put the nightmare behind them 
, definately next time 
. Will post some pics soon on the other thread of all our hard work!!