 Poster: A snowHead
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A 33 year old man from the north of France has fallen 25 meters from the Planpraz cable car in Chamonix, France. The man was with 3 friends who were descending around 5pm. A window from the cable car gave way for a reason yet to be determined. The state prosecutor has opened an inquiry. The man's friends have been interviewed by the police. The cable car is currently off limits until the technical inquiry is completed.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 3-03-08 18:54; edited 2 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Edit for now obvious reasons. 
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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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According to the local paper this morning the four men were from the Somme. They were taking the cable car down due to poor (ie non-existent) snow cover on the home piste.
The men had skied in the morning then spent the afternoon in a mountain restaurant. The three snowboarders and a skier then took the cable car down.
A side window opposite the door gave way at 2/3rds distance. When the cabin arrived at the bottom station the men got out. Two of them climbed up the slope under the pylons while the third called the rescue services.
The three men, aged 33-35, were arrested by the police, given alcohol tests then charged with manslaughter. Other theories have not bee rules out but some damage to the man's ski gear had lead the police to think the man was pushed violently against the window which then gave way under his weight. According to the lift company CMB the window should be able to withstand such a shock.
http://www.ledauphine.com/
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Crikey! I now assume we watched the heli lifting him away last night - couldn't understand what was going on - the heli looked very uncomfortable hovering so close to the cables. Terrible business.
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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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I supposed this inccident is same as the thread in the news.
The link showed by davidof indicates a pretty modern gondola.
The reported damages on skiing equipment would suggest the window was forcibly broken open.
Under normal circumstance a gondola even without any window would still be safe to ride on, I would have thought. It has to take some "extraordinary effort" to persuade someone to get outside a gondola, unless this someone was experiencing a life threatening situation inside the gondola or under the influence of alcohol or drug.
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I doubt there were 2 deaths yesterday. The news report and this one contradict each other. the news thread says it was a teenager however this one says he was 33.
Can somebody please clear it up.
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I think due to the report NZK had, our pisteur friend reported to us before details were given, the behaviour he had witnessed in the gondola led him to believe they had to be teenagers, hoping adults knew better than to behave in the said manner in a lift. 
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Erm I assume so, it wasn't on snow news when I posted last night so I didn't see it. Just goes to show one shouldn't jump to conclusions about teenagers.
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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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My post on the incident was indeed a result of a report from someone in the gondola behind the one involved and thus was very much 'breaking news' and not verified by any authorities. I shall edit my post accordingly (if I can now it's been moved to 'News').
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My comment about teenagers was aimed at the world in general not your pisteur friend in particular.. anyway the mods can sort it out, give 'em some work.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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davidof, They were probably too big to be kids and one does assume grown ups wouldn't act this way. I'm of the opinion they'd probably had a couple of beers. 
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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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I am one of those ghastly 'teenagers' and I would never think about pratting about on a ski lift.
less of the taring with the same brush please  .
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Christopher, Don't forget, all us grown ups were once teenagers, we know the drill. Square. 
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You know it makes sense.
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Anther report by BBC
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Three men are in custody in the resort of Chamonix in the French Alps, after one of their friends fell to his death from a cable car the four were using.
The cause of the fall is unclear, but the men - aged 32 to 35 - had engaged in "rough play", prosecutors said.
Police said two of them had broken a side window after leaning on 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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From what i can gather reading french websites, two of the guys (as mentionned before) were messing about and leaning on the window (play fighting?) when it broke or "disjointed" itself, taking the guys with it..
One of the guys luckily got caught/grabbed by the feet by his brother before it was too late.. 
The fourth did not "intervene"...
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Poster: A snowHead
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There also appear to have been two other deaths if I've understood the radio reports correctly (http://www.rtl.fr/fiche/58834/chute-mortelle-d-une-telecabine-a-chamonix.html ) two parachutists entangled (Gap), one of whom died, and a guide who died in Argentiere when an ice column collapsed. And a big fire in Val D'Isere, but nobody hurt. A bad weekend...
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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 see Shamonet is reporting the men as "British".
| Quote: |
What's New in Chamonix?
Chamonix Resort News
You heard it here first.
Man falls to his death from bubble lift in Chamonix
by Caroline Farce | Ski News Reporter | published 2-Mar-2008
Three men (assumed British) are in custody in Chamonix, after one of their friends fell to his death from a Brevent to Planpraz bubble lift the four were using in a shocking incident.
The cause of the fall is unclear, but the men - aged 32 to 35 - had engaged in "rough play", prosecutors said.
Police said two of them had broken a side window after leaning on it.
They say the four childhood friends had shared a meal before using the cable car on Saturday afternoon. Their identities have not been disclosed.
Tests are being carried out to determine whether the men were drunk.
Police say the victim fell from a height of 82ft and died instantly. The Dauphine Libere is reporting that a French family from Picardie who were walking on the Petit Balcon paths under the bubble lift came across the body.
The three men in the lift are being questioned but so far no charges have been laid.
Compagnie du Mont Blanc has said that this is an unprecedented incident that no-one has witnessed before and confirmed that 'A violent force' would have to be used to break the bubble lift plexiglass window.
More details as we get them...
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Chamonix police have said the men were not drunk, just to clear this up.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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| pam w wrote: |
| There also appear to have been two other deaths if I've understood the radio reports correctly (http://www.rtl.fr/fiche/58834/chute-mortelle-d-une-telecabine-a-chamonix.html ) two parachutists entangled (Gap), one of whom died, and a guide who died in Argentiere when an ice column collapsed. And a big fire in Val D'Isere, but nobody hurt. A bad weekend... |
Also a guy who died on a motorbike in the Pyrenees driving too fast.
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| davidof wrote: |
by Caroline Farce
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Caroline Face, on the version I'm looking at
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
| davidof wrote: |
by Caroline Farce
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Caroline Face, on the version I'm looking at |
You should get the bifocals fixed 
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So based on their actions people have assumed they were teenagers or British 
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| DB wrote: |
| So based on their actions people have assumed they were teenagers or British |
I think they assumed they were British because the local paper reported they'd been drinking all afternoon.
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| Quote: |
the local paper reported they'd been drinking all afternoon.
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but it seems they were wrong on both counts? The reports I saw said he was from the "Nord". Of France, though this was not stated.
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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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Maybe the windows are actually designed to be 'burstable' from the inside in an emergency. The windows of buses seem to be made that way.
This is a really extreme incident. I can't recall anything similar (notwithstanding various gondolas falling off the cable) and have been following skiing for 40 years or more.
That said, you get the occasional bubble with a faulty door that can open during the trip, and my immediate suspicion was that it was the door rather than the window.
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You know it makes sense.
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davidof, that video is terrifying. I was thinking "wow, lucky there's no-one in there" till I saw them.
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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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What I can find always say the men were from north france, i.e. Amiens area..No mention of being british..Alcohol seems a constant as well..
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Kruisler wrote: |
| What I can find always say the men were from north france, i.e. Amiens area..No mention of being british..Alcohol seems a constant as well.. |
You will remember that people from the North have a reputation for being drunkards which is probably why alcohol figures in the reports. However the alcohol tests showed the men had only had a social drink with lunch.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
This is a really extreme incident. I can't recall anything similar (notwithstanding various gondolas falling off the cable) and have been following skiing for 40 years or more.
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Ahh you've a short memory David.
Are you sure bus windows are burstable, as I don't have my bus pass yet I must admit I rarely use public transport but when I have they always seem to have little spiked hammers to break through the windows.
Plus telecabine doors can always be forced open.
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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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OK, deliver the data!
- number of people falling out of gondola windows
- number of people falling out of gondola doors
- number of drunken 33-year-old British teenagers with dual Northern French nationality base-jumping (without parachutes) from gondolas in Chamonix, after an alcoholic lunch.
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the head of the Chamonix lifts, interviewed on the clip I linked above, said he did not know of any similar incident (if I understood correctly, which is not necessarily the case)
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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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I chucked a chicken out of the said lift once, not a live one an oven ready one, i was pi$$ed, 31yrs old and live and work with a guy from the North of France. There that was 'Quite Similar'
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, Why ? Was it cooked?
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The three men have been released and the Chamonix police are focussing on the solidity of the windows. (ie the Brevent cable car is a death trap - allegedly).
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| davidof wrote: |
| ... the Chamonix police are focussing on the solidity of the windows. |
That presumably explains why they are now being removed for use as riot shields.
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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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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
| davidof wrote: |
| ... the Chamonix police are focussing on the solidity of the windows. |
That presumably explains why they are now being removed for use as riot shields. |
Not sure they are strong enough... I've just seen the state prosecutor on the TV who looks very unhappy. He confirms what I posted above. They've tested some of the cabins and they are death traps.
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FAQ
