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Twitter fans follow death of snowBoarder 'live'

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Two British men, one snowBoarder and one skier went missing in Verbier yesterday evening. Part of a group of 30, their friends and associates put out pleas for info and updates via the Twitter social network. As a result, Twitterers watched events unfold as one man was rescued alive but the other was not so fortunate...

full report: in The Telegraph

I was following this last night on twitter when a few people reported that their friends were late back. Then they got worried and asked for phone numbers etc. to try and get in contact and then it got a bit worse and they called out the patrol. It wasn't much fun seeing it played out over the internet almost in realtime.

http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/03/03/rob-williams-of-dolphin-music-dies-in-alps-skiing-accident/

Anyway, sad news.

I wonder what they were doing - whether they were off-piste and whether they had the experience and kit for such an undertaking or whether it was just an unfortunate accident.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Quote:

It wasn't much fun seeing it played out over the internet almost in realtime.

Why did you look then? Sounds ghoulish to me.
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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?
BBC report:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7922187.stm
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Well i didn't have my crystal ball with me so I couldn't exactly tell how it would end. These were people I follow on twitter - if you knew how that worked you might actually understand what I meant.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Sad news indeed but I'm not sure I understand the need for anyone to follow other peoples minutiae on Twitter. Sounds like johnnyh, needs to get a life. I might be less sniffy if, by following this on Twitter, you were able to do something to avoid the deaths or help with the rescue. The word vouyeuristic springs to mind Confused
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guys, no differnet from following a topic on here where you don;t actually know the persons involved in person so be fair.... you still have a realtionship with them even though you;ve never met!!
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
marcellus, Nah not quite the same IMV. Not seen anyone post here to the effect that "ooh my mates have fallen down a crevasse - any snowHead s out there to tell me the best way to get out of it?"
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I'm not familiar with Twitter, but I think if one was following a thread on Snowheads, involving some people you "knew", who were (for instance) posting on a Blackberry, from the slopes, and something went wrong, you'd tend to hang on in there and follow it through. As we do, for example, when someone has had an accident. If the people involved want to keep communicating about it, at any rate. I wouldn't necessarily classify that as voyeuristic (though perhaps it would be if you tuned in solely to find people in desperate trouble!).
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Lizzard, halfhand, I think you're being a little harsh to the OP

Had there been a good outcome and the missing man been found alive, would the OP have been accused of being voyeuristic ?
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Those remarks of IncogSkiSno pretty well echo my sentiments.
johnnyh was doubtless optimistic that the story would have a happy ending, or at least hoping for it. I see no reason to question his character. In fact, it's pretty unpleasant to do so.

Tens of millions of people followed the return journey of Apollo 13, live, and hoped the astronauts would get back. Voyeurism or ghoulishness hardly entered into it. Against all odds, they made it.

I was with my father in Verbier in a serious white-out, and all we had to follow were the fading and filling tracks of other skiers disappearing in front of us. Absolutely terrifying.

It's a tragedy that Rob Williams died. Terrible.
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I can scarcely imagine anything more frightening than being lost in a white-out and separated from one's ski companions. Poor man.
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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.
Hurtle, me neither, perhaps we need another thread. 'what to do if ' ?
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I'd agree with IncogSkiSno too. Maybe by following such events we learn something which prevents a reoccurence. Some people just look to attack other people's actions while not even showing any sympathy for the victim - that's sad.

It's a real shame, the mountains can be so cruel sometimes.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
johnnyh, I know how it works, thanks. I just think it's very stupid and frankly a bit weird.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Quote:

a bit weird

I'm genuinely interested, because I don't know how it works. How is it weirder than having "conversations" in threads or private messaging on Snowheads?
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
pam w, it's not any weirder, the whole internet thing is weird.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
The Telegraph carries a full report on the death of Rob Williams here:

British entrepreneur Rob Williams dies on skiing holiday in tragedy played out on Twitter
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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?
I'm more interested in what actually killed the poor guy. The report seems vague. Was he buried in an avvy or was it simply from being lost in the cold? If it was the latter, I presume they were off-piste. In which case, where was the guide and basic survival kit?

Edit: Most of my questions answered in the above report.


Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Wed 4-03-09 9:55; edited 1 time in total
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uktrailmonster, the beeb report says he fell off a 60 ft cliff. Surely if you're on your own and blind you just stay still where you are? I'm also surprised that a group skiing together didn't have each others' mobile nos
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
eng_ch, I wondered that, but the Telegraph says it was a 'working holiday', 30 of them. I guess it's possible his partner was the only one who had his mobile number that early in the week?
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Quote:

Sounds like johnnyh, needs to get a life.


Not sure why halfhand, thinks he knows so much about me just because I use Twitter and/or the internet. It's very strange how halfhand and Lizzard, want to pass personal judgement on me when I was simply posting some news and conveying how I had come to hear about it and (to a certain extent) how technology had affected the "delivery" of that news.

My understanding of the group was that it was a mixed group of professionals. The event (V:ICE) was probably more like going to an informal business conference than going on holiday to ski with friends. So to that end, I guess it's possible that they didn't all know one another's contact details.
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
johnnyh, Certainly don't recall those sort of whinges being made about the people on Twitter who made the first reports of an airliner crashing into the Hudson. Toofy Grin
But as you have probably noticed such is the nature of snowHeads ....................
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Boredsurfing, yes, I had noticed and am begining to post less as a consequence . . .
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johnnyh,
Quote:

It's very strange how halfhand and Lizzard, want to pass personal judgement on me when I was simply posting some news and conveying how I had come to hear about it and (to a certain extent) how technology had affected the "delivery" of that news.
I'm with you and don't understand what they're on about. I'm not interested in Facebook, Twitter or whatever (thank heaven my only forum addiction is this one!) but if I happened to be on a forum where people were genuinely using it to try and locate a lost person, I would stick with it to learn the outcome. Surely anybody would - I'd have said that was human nature, not voyeurism. JulesB's injury is vaguely analogous - lots of us followed his progress and were presumably delighted when it all turned out OK.
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johnnyh, Keep your hair on or as we say up here, calm down, calm down. Don't profess to know anything about you just an interpretation of your posts. However, it's the whole twitter thing, I guess, which I can't get my head around (that and facebook, myspace etc..). I'm just an old fart probably Little Angel
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
halfhand, but you can get your head round Snowheads? Do you really see a difference? Like Hurtle, I thought of the JulesB thread too. Maybe it's just that you are unfamiliar with Facebook and Twitter (as am I. I joined the former at the urging of my kids but I've been too idle to find out how it works). I'm definitely an old fart, but I don't feel any sense of pride in not being able to get my head round Facebook/Twitter (rather the reverse, they are such important phenomena that anyone with any pretension to be interested in how society works ought to make an effort to educate themselves). And I do think it is a bit rich to make quite critical character judgements based on the use somebody makes of a technology you profess not to understand.
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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.
johnnyh wrote:
Boredsurfing, yes, I had noticed and am begining to post less as a consequence . . .

That's very sad, but not unheard of on snowHeads.
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Hurtle, pam w, appreciate your considered comments on this. halfhand, it may be that I have become over sensitive to this forum, nevertheless, I posted simply to make people aware of a story and also because I was aware of it through a somewhat "less conventional way". Immediately I was accused by Lizzard, of being ghoulish and by you to "get a life". That felt like a bit of an unjustified attack which I didn't expect or indeed need. I'm fine if people don't use/like Twitter et al, but as others have said it's no different to being on here and posting/following posts.

Boredsurfing, it is for me too, because I used to really enjoy coming on here but I have felt recently that I'm not entirely comfortable with the reactions my posts were getting. I accept that not everyone will agree with each other and/or me but I was suprised at some of the reaction(s) which surfaced here. As a consequence I stopped posting for a few weeks, but thought I'd give this one a go yesterday, only to find that within minutes of posting the subsequent posts made me feel as though I wished I hadn't bothered!

Anyway . . .
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
johnnyh, At least you haven't had the mods being rude to you, which has stopped another poster from posting so regularly.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Boredsurfing, . . . I have recently felt bullied and very uncomfortable here which actually suprised me since I'm fairly happy with forums/communities. I think it was the fact that I'd grown to "know" the names and somehow imagined everyone in a big sort of family way and suddenly something changed. There was one post from one person which I found particularly disturbing as they had clearly been "lurking" without comment for sometime. Sad thing is I quite liked it before and there aren't that many "active" snowsports forums. Anyway, rethinking a lot of things at the moment - an not being here so much did give me more time to actually do some work!!
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
johnnyh, yep, there ia a clique of certain posters who are best ignored, difficult I know, but it can be done Very Happy
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
johnnyh, I've seen similar reactions. This forum can be highly informal and people often think it's okay to speak to someone on here the way they'd speak to a mate or someone they've known for years.

Personally - I think if you don't know the person face to face, keep it formal, polite and respectful. There is no need for judgemental comments and name calling. If you don't have something nice or polite to say - don't say anything at all! I think people can often post for the sake of "being heard" Empty vessles make the most noise do they not?

Back to the story. I wish people would stop dying out there! It's very saddening.

Any ideas what's the safety aspect here? What do you do when all turns white and you canny see a thing in front of you? Do you stop? What's the concensus (brings to mind the little ledge coming back towards the pleney in Morzine - pretty much a green and flat, but if you couldn't see where you were going - a deadly cliff edge!)

Any advice for a fairweather skier!?
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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?
Who's to say anyone is who they appear to be on this forum? Maybe snowHeads is being run in a Truman Show style?
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I'm Sparticus Toofy Grin
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I'm Dafticus Sad

Sad .. a young man of obvious talent but as much so for his family and friends.
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Quote:

there ia a clique of certain posters who are best ignored


indeed - but it is a shame nevertheless.


Quote:

I wish people would stop dying out there! It's very saddening.


Yes, it's awful. In this case it's not clear whether they were off-piste by accident because of the white out or whether they were just unlucky off piste boarders/skiers.

In my experience in a white out it's really hard to stick together and while staying-put may make sense my instinct has always been to get down the mountain inch by inch if necessary. Being on the piste is obviously easier, but I there have been times when I've not been able to tell which was up and which way was down even on a piste.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Forum posters mocking Twitter users? World's gone mad I tell thee Laughing

I got caught in a white out on the first day of my second ever snowboard holiday, in Tignes on the glacier, and it remains one of the most terrifying experiences I've ever had in the mountains. Poor man, what a horrible thing to happen.

I suppose the best thing is stick together and always always take a phone... This might sound a bit nuts but I very rarely ride without a survival blanket in my pocket. They take up almost no space, it just lives in there and I never take it out.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
To say that Twitter fans followed the guys death "live" is hyperbole. It wasn't some kind of internet snuff movie or one of those C4 assisted suicide films. Some twitter fans were simply already followers of the V:ICE group members and noticed the "tweeting" or "twitching" or whatever they call it of people mentioning the guy was missing. No-one could have thought the outcome would be so tragic.

The poor boarder fell down a small cliff (or plunged as the BBC would have it) without any witnesses but the trees and wildlife and possibly his friend.

If anyone is looking for lessons

i. try not to remove your board
ii. know where you are
iii. carry a map/compass/gps maybe
iv. if you are lost, call the rescue services and stay put
v. if the weather is bad try to get out of the wind

and even if you do all that accidents and deaths will still happen in the mountains.

RIP.
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davidof, thanx for the only useful comment this thread has produced (I hope) so far.
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My God ..A white out is so frightening ..Can it happen suddenly or is it more likely to happen in windy/blizzard conditions ?
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