 Poster: A snowHead
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I know several  's know the area well and the dangers of off piste without a guide have been mentioned on here before. On Tuesday another skier who thought he would ignore the closed run sign /rope is maybe lucky to be alive. (For those that know the Col DE PLate chair and the Lucifer red piste.) I was going up the chair with my children and just before pylon 7 their is a fairly narrow crevasse directly beneath the chair. I would think less than a minute before we passed over it a skier had gone in. Very fortunately his skis had not come off and they had helped to wedge him in the crevasse about 2metres down.
As we approached the top of the lift a pisteur was skiing down with an enormous pack of equipment and I heard later that they got him out.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Darwin's normally sorts most of them out, I wouldn't sweat about it...
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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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I have to say I nearly got flattened by a piste basher in tigne a few years back because I went down a closed run. I went down partly becuase I'm a pillock and partly because Nobody had thought to post the fact the run was shut at the bottom of the lift and I was very inexperienced at the time and didn't fancy the black run that was my only other option! This was at the top of Toviere off the aeroski lift.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| gsb wrote: |
| Very fortunately his skis had not come off and they had helped to wedge him in the crevasse about 2metres down. |
Very fortunate indeed........... it's alledged that some are 100s of feet deep!!
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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 didn't know Flaine had a glacier ?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Crevasse..????
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| David Murdoch wrote: |
| I didn't know Flaine had a glacier ? |
Doesn't it have lots of holes in the limestone bedrock ?
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David Murdoch, It doesn't. JT, Yes. You guys can call it what you want.
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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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Flaine is notorious for those holes.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Sat 27-12-08 12:11; edited 1 time in total
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Having been to the the top of Flaine in the summer, I would be vary wary of doing any off piste in the top "half" of the flaine bowl. The area just either side of the main run across the top of the ridge is riddled with "holes". There are lots of warning signs about in the gondola stations with pictures of it in the summer... but still people venture off. Better off heading to other parts of the GM for off piste action.
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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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They are Limestone fissures in the rock known in French as "Lapiaz".
Some are very deep, sharp and not a nice place to go.....
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| Quote: |
They are Limestone fissures in the rock known in French as "Lapiaz".
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We saw these - DH had a bit of a muse over whether the mesh netting that covered some of these would hold your weight if you went over them accidentally, but that is something I would not like to find out. We noticed them from the Perdrix lift [ aka The Reggaemellovator].
It was certainly enough to put me off thinking of venturing off piste in that area.
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You know it makes sense.
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They normally get bridged like a normal crevasse later in the spring. the mesh helps the bridging process. The terrain below the Lindars nord is riddled with them hence it doesn't normally open until late feb when there is enough snow.
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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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norris, That explains why areas were closed then? We were also wonder why Gers was closed off too - do you know? Is it just lack of snow [though it was pretty good last week - enjoyed it!  ]
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Poster: A snowHead
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Might be too much snow. Gers is avalanche prone.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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stevo_the_saddler, Makes sense as was a good covering last week.
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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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A little off the main topic of the thread but I find it is good that in skiing as in many mountain activities in Europe you are still allowed some degree of personal responsibility. Okay you do not endanger anyone else but if you want to duck under a rope you can. It is a growing irk of our times that some things are just banned regardless of your abilities and choice. If I am properly prepared and knowlegdable I should be allowed to go where I like, if I cock up it is my own fault. The state its got to in the US where you are fined for going over a rope (obviously fair if you were in an area that could say shed an avalanche on unsuspecting innocents below), is nuts. It is purely a liability response. If you are silly enough or capable enough to ignore the warnings then the choice should be your own.
Back on topic; sounds like Flaine is a great place to go for some SRT caving then, under the piaz in the "Pierre St Martin" ski area by the Pic d'Anie in the Pyrenees is one of the largest caves in europe with coming up on 1km of descent (it is still being explored). They loose the odd skier there from time to time too... 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| in garbure we trust wrote: |
| ........If I am properly prepared and knowlegdable I should be allowed to go where I like, if I cock up it is my own fault..... |
So when you do cock up I suppose you won't be expecting a patroller or member of the rescue services to put their neck on the line to get you out of the $hit 
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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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spyderjon, as in garbure we trust, is an IML , it is less likely to happen to him than it would likely happen to say Warren Smith, or any other ski teacher.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| spyderjon wrote: |
| in garbure we trust wrote: |
| ........If I am properly prepared and knowlegdable I should be allowed to go where I like, if I cock up it is my own fault..... |
So when you do cock up I suppose you won't be expecting a patroller or member of the rescue services to put their neck on the line to get you out of the $hit |
So if you went hiking here and slipped and broke your leg, you wouldn't want the Mountain Rescue to come to your assistance?
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I am a qualified mountain guide, if I got myself in trouble its my trouble, no I wouldn't expect a rescue, I am usually well away from the piste patrols anyway. There is a time and a place for all things - all I am saying is that there shouldnt be another set of rules and laws for this sort of thing - what ever happend to common sense and personal responsibility?
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| snowbunny wrote: |
| spyderjon, as in garbure we trust, is an IML , it is less likely to happen to him than it would likely happen to say Warren Smith, or any other ski teacher. |
obviously it's recognised it's a far lower qualification than internet ski pundit
some insight into the motivations of rescue personnel appears to be lacking as well.
ise, IML aspirant, ex-Mountain Rescue
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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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in garbure we trust, no offense meant & I was unaware of your qualification. However this means that you are one of a very small minority compared to the rest of us slope users. I interpreted your post as contradictory as you're saying that you want personal responsibility to ski anywhere but you're also saying that you understand that an area may be roped off if, say, access would cause an avalanche risk to others(?).
One of the features of N.American skiing that appeals to me is the additional protection offered by their controlled off-piste skiing. I have very limited experience of skiing in the US but have skied pretty much all of the Utah resorts & the closed areas there seemed to be the minimum required to keep both me & other slope users 'relatively' safe, ie stops one skiing off a conceiled cliff or accessing a pitch above others etc. A good number of the signs that accompanied closed/roped areas also detailed the reason for the closure which apparently had greatly reduced incidents of 'poaching'.
philw, my comment was relating to having an accident in a closed area so no I wouldn't expect to be rescued within a closed area.
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| spyderjon wrote: |
| philw, my comment was relating to having an accident in a closed area so no I wouldn't expect to be rescued within a closed area. |
spyderjon, sorry that wasn't clear in your post, and I do agree, although there might be a little differentation between closed areas....
| spyderjon wrote: |
| I interpreted your post as contradictory as you're saying that you want personal responsibility to ski anywhere but you're also saying that you understand that an area may be roped off if, say, access would cause an avalanche risk to others(?). |
Areas around the 3V's were closed (Mont du Fond, Col du Thorens, Mont du Vallon) in December due to it being early season and not busy enough to warrant them being open, it was possible to skin to areas that are normally accessable via lifts without creating any risk for other slope users, and I accept that my being there was on my own head.
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