 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello,
Morbid I know, but I am a journalism student doing a feature piece on the Wall, and I want a little background info on the run and it's history- does anyone (for whatever reason) know of any fatalities or where I can find information on this?
Thank you very much in advance!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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skiben, I have been told that here are fatalities every season but it's not the sort of thing that any resort/ski area wants to publicise. My guess is that you could try the Avoriaz Tourist Office first, the first 50 metres of the wall is France or the Champery Tourist Office as most fallers will invariably end up in Switzerland.
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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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Doesn't give you what you want but i enjoyed reading it all the same and it features the wall so is just about on topic...Maybe he should feature all...
ARE YOU GOOD ENOUGH TO SKI THE CLASSICS?
Peter Hardy guides us down six of skiing's most famous runs.
http://www.welove2ski.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=b01&featureid=672
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Link doesn't work I'm afraid?
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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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Oh I just clicked on it and it did but be warned I'm as useless as computers as I am skiing.
Go to google and copy in -- ARE YOU GOOD ENOUGH TO SKI THE CLASSICS?
Its the first link.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Did for me. Interesting, thanks, but I won't be joining!
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skiben, The Wall might be steep (at the top) but it is also wide so there's always room to blow out. It's not steep, narrow & lined with rock... ie like the kind of terrain that might kill you if you fall. Also, it's closed more often than it's open just to save people from themselves. I can't imagine that there are that many fatalities although I'm sure there have been a few. Bit like Rottweilers having a bad reputation but all the ones I've met have been docile. Best of luck trying to get a story out of it.
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It's not that difficult, I've done it a few times. The top is a bit more like mountaineering than skiing, but once down the first bit it's a very good run. There's a bar at the bottom now, much needed, because it's very thirsty work to ski. You can go both down and up the chair lift that runs alongside, and it's good fun to sit on that and watch people skiing it.
It gets roped off and closed when it's particularly dangerous, but people still duck under and ski it, and that's when most accidents happen. A young girl skiing with her father died when we were there once, and I know it was closed then, because we'd been to have a look at it earlier.
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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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| skiben wrote: |
| Does anybody know of where I can find details of fatalities on the SWISS WALL? |
The two sources which spring to mind are the local coroner's office (or equivalent), or the ski patrol that covers that run. I don't think you could research this remotely, and you might need the legal equivalent of a 'freedom of information' request to obtain the data.
If the location of your case study is unimportant ... You might find that the steeper ski runs of the Scottish mountains would be easier to research - classics such as the Fly Paper at Glencoe, or the Coire na Ciste West Wall on Cairngorm.
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The Wall is really not that hard. It's steep, but not that steep compared to other blacks, and bumped up so something to break your fall. I wouldn't have thought fatalities are very frequent?
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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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How do people think the Wall compares with The Tunnel in Alpe D'Huez?
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anyone know if that couloir on the far right of Sage's photo gets skied much?
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You know it makes sense.
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I was told once by a PDS resident that on average 6-8 people died on the Wall per year. Can't help with any verification though, sorry. Go to Avoriaz & get chatting to bar staff & ski instructors, would be my suggestion.
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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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Arno,
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anyone know if that couloir on the far right of Sage's photo gets skied much?
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I know it's been skiied at least once!
6-8 people sounds like a lot, bearing in mind how many ski accidents make it into British media. Wouldn't we hear more about it?
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Poster: A snowHead
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beanie1, was that by you by any chance?!
or are you able to see a track in it that my monitor can't pick up?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Arno,
Might have been! First couloir i skiied, 8 years ago. It was one of the ones to the right of the Swiss Wall, can't remember exactly which now.
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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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| Quote: |
| 6-8 people sounds like a lot, bearing in mind how many ski accidents make it into British media. Wouldn't we hear more about it? |
Almost certainly not, unless they were Brits. The media only seems to report the deaths of other nationalities if there are Brits involved, or if the manner of death is somehow spectacular.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I just love how someone asks about fatalities on a wide open run and then Arno mentions the narrow steeper couloir, obviously keen to try it.
Good man.
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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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6-8 just does seem high for one run in one season. Skiing does not have that high a fatality rate, particularly on marked and controlled runs.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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There seems to be something about that run though, maybe the challenging notices at the top, which just makes idiots want to throw themselves down it rather than take the chair. I wouldn't be surprised to find that some people have been killed by impact with people falling from above them. When I was there some years ago the snow (mid January) was poor throughout the PDS and there were plenty of rocks strewn around the run, especially the top section, with extremely thin and icy slick bits of "snow" in between. I did it by chair.... and was astonished to see the lack of skill of many of those skiing it.
The father who took a young girl down it when it was closed should be prosecuted for manslaughter. Some people don't deserve to have kids.
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| Quote: |
I know it's been skiied at least once!
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Seen a guy ski it a few years ago and know another that claims to have skied the coulouirs to the right of the photos. Been there once and it was so not skiable when we where there will have to go back someday. 6-8 would seem like alot, most resorts would have that many as a whole in a season or am I wrong here?
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Arno,
I am in Morzine next week, might have a go - and take some pics....
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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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norris steps up to the plate
good man! 
actually, getting to it looks like it might be the hardest part if you have to follow the ridge
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| vetski wrote: |
| I was told once by a PDS resident that on average 6-8 people died on the Wall per year. Can't help with any verification though, sorry. Go to Avoriaz & get chatting to bar staff & ski instructors, would be my suggestion. |
bar staff are the biggest confabulators in resort, certainly not the people to chat to for serious information, except maybe on which chalet girls put out after a couple of Red Bulls and Vodka.
You would need to ask the head of piste patrol or the local police for details. Despite its reputation I doubt there have been more than a couple of deaths total on the Pas de Chavanette... if there were 6 to 8 per year do you think it would still be open to skiers? No. Given that there are very very few on piste deaths per year in either France or Switzerland I doubt that they are all on one run.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Arno, The access is real easy, there is a lift that runs up behind it, from there there are 10 or so similar couloirs.
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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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Ordhan, I don't think most resorts would even have that many. In my experience if there has been one death in a resort people will talk about it and be very sombre for some time.
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Been there once and it was so not skiable when we where there will have to go back someday.
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Indeed, when I was there in March there was so little snow they weren't skiable.
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But as SMALLZOOKEEPER, says the access is easy, no hiking involved.
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You know it makes sense.
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, interesting... I'd pigeon-holed the PDS as a bit of an intermediate cruiser's paradise, but it does look like there's some good stuff there if you look around
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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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lots of different variations also
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Poster: A snowHead
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Arno,
I did a winter there 5 years ago some suprisingly good stuff, not massive vertical but lots easy access stuff. The wall couloirs are still on my list though!
Have a look at http://www.chablais-grimpe.com/skirando/skirando_index.html under Hautes Fortes for some of the steeper stuff. I have done 3 or 4 of these lines.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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norris, great website, the signal couloir looks terrifying. There looked like a good long descent from one of the peaks on the right when you ascend the mossettes chair towards Switzerland, I'm not sure how you'd get there early enough though.
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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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Arno, It's Shite, stay away. Particularly Avoriaz.
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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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norris, One of my Favorite skis; Right and Forward Left.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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My husband did the wall 3 or 4 times when we went in January (I watched from the chairlift!). Also, there were a group of blind skiers out there at the same time and we saw (from said chairlift) a blind skier going down the wall with his guide behind him shouting directions. It must have been terrifying but then as someone pointed out - he can't see how steep it is, so may not be so frightened. Obviously he was an excellent skier or they wouldn't have taken him down it.
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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 did it last week. Lots of snow and quite forgiving but still tough on the knees and as scary as hell when you look down from the top. Hope to post some pics later
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| norris wrote: |
| Arno, better snowboard boots the Downhill ski boots! |
mine have vibram soles
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FAQ
actually, my inclination if i was in the area would be to head for somewhere beginning with LC, although I hear that people from Chamonix have now discovered it 
