 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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An epic day with fellow Snowheads Nurse Gladys Emmanuelle and Oldschool. Two runs down the Grande Motte glacier, blue sky and powder. Then down to Val via the Face de Bellevarde, over to the glacier in Fornet for lunch. On the trip back to Val Claret we managed to sneak in some off piste, a timed run on the slalom gates, a natural half-pipe, some rather soft moguls, and a beer in the Sun. And it was all the sweeter for being a TOIL day.
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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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It's a powder day....
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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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I've absconded from the Tignes group to come and sort some stuff out here in Val Thorens. It chucked it down on and off all night. about 5-6cm down in Les Menuires town where I spent the night. more like 5-6 inches in VT 
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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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admin, you are a snow god. Just keep on working at it, will you. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Hi
Can any of you help me with this at all?
http://www.snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=75551
Also I'm arriving in Tignes on Saturday 2nd for a cheap week at the UCPA if anyone's around to meetup? Would have loved to have come on this trip but can't do end of month weeks due to work commitments.
Hope you're not using up all the snow and there's still plenty when I arrive! 
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As this appears to have been the practise for the recently announced PSB11 bash, can any attendees add a little more to the info posted above?
How the week was, how the accommodation was and, more importantly how the bar prices stacked up !
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FraserP, Good, good and good. Does that help? 
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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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Oh, and the staff were fantastic. Went above and beyond to help in any way they could.
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Has there ever been a bash with so little written about it  ,,,, especially when one considers the PSB will be held here. Did you all fall out?
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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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fatbob,  perhaps it is all sub judice.
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Frosty the Snowman, the group on the whole, got on well and enjoyed themselves fairly typically for a group of snowHeads
The accommodation was good, as was the food, the staff were friendly and helpful and very supportive when we had problems.
Snow conditions off-piste were hard to read and none of us knew the terrain well so those in the group who were drawn to ski off-piste were not really getting their fill.
Near the end of the week, after some new snow, we hired a guide between six of us. We told the ski school specifically that we were unsure about where was safe to ski and we wanted someone who knew.
He lead us onto a face on the Charvet above Val d'Isere that was highly unstable. The first person (oldscool) to follow the guide fell on his 2nd turn either causing, or as the result of, a slide of wet, heavy snow. The slide built in size, set off a secondary, larger avalanche and dragged oldscool 2 or 3 hundred meters, over an edge, down a ravine and over a cliff of about 15-20m. He was apparently conscious all the way.
He stopped, buried waste deep, facing uphill about 100m further down.
During the rescue and after his transceiver had been turned off, he was then buried by a subsequent avalanche that dragged him further downhill.
He suffered a broken cheek bone, heel and T11/12 vertebrae, as a result of which, he is unable to move his legs.
Despite a number of subsequent avalanches, the others in the party were uninjured and were helicoptered off the hill, down to Val d'Isere.
oldscool is now in hospital in Salisbury and the latest news is that he made it out of bed for the first time last week. He is now looking forward to 'wheel chair jousting'.
I don't think anyone directly involved in the incident particularly wanted to be the one to open conversation here on the matter and I think everyone probably felt that it was a touch unseemly to exchange the usual post-trip pleasantries given the serious condition one of our party was in.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| fatbob, perhaps it is all sub judice. |
No, it isn't - it was just really bloody horrid for everyone involved.
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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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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| admin wrote: |
| No, it isn't - it was just really bloody horrid for everyone involved. |
Indeed. I'm shaking again just reading that and I wasn't even directly involved. 
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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, if possible - pass on the good wishes of fellow snowheads to oldscool
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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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Touretteski, indeed, indeed. Very very sobering.
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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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oldscool was actually a very new snowHead but had got the hang of it quickly.
The first snowHead he met face to face was Duke whom he approached, at Bristol airport on the way out to Tignes, with the customary, "Hi, are you Frosty The Snowman?"
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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admin, brings a lump to my throat reading that. And mine and Julesb's best wishes to Oldscool too.
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Good God ......................Could I please add my commiserations to everyone involved in this sobering tale, Oldscool I hope you are being well looked after and come out things as well as possible. No wonder everyone often says that we only ski because the mountain lets us, what a nasty sounding accident - I hope someone will be able to convey our good wishes to him.
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Megamum et al, Good wishes will most certainly be passed on. Either read directly here or passed on another way.
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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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Blimey, horrible news, best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Now in the interest of always wanting to learn by others, did you hire a guide or an instructor? Did they say anything about the slope being unstable beforehand? What other lessons have been learnt?
regards,
Greg
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kitenski, Take your point about learning from it, but a bit soon to be analysing yet. Can we not just respect that this is a difficult thing to post about and give those involved time to log in and realise it's here before we start on that?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Schuss in Boots, sure thing, sorry! Wasn't meant to be critical....
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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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kitenski, No problem and I know it wasn't meant that way.
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My heart goes out to Oldscool and family at what must be a very difficult time.
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You know it makes sense.
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admin, thank you for posting. I knew from fb that there'd been an avalanche involving snowHeads and it was serious but didn't know the details and didn't want to ask.
Please pass on my very heartfelt best wishes to Oldscool.
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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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cathy, thanks for your sensitivity and the sensitivity of almost everyone else who did know/find out about it in not bringing it up on here, at least until now, with the idea at least being that it would wait until those involved felt ready to talk about it in an open forum. It affected a few people very seriously and not everyone is fully over the stress of what happened nor ready to face the inevitable barrage of questions. There were also some insurance/legal concerns that needed to get sorted before it could be talked about.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Sideshow_Bob, indeed. echo what cathy said
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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sorry to hear this - hope the recovery goes well
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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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Sideshow_Bob, admin, I do hope that Oldscool's condition improves and that the rest of you who remain affected recover your bounce in due course. I can't think of a more chastening experience - the news scared the hell out of me, and I wasn't even there. To you all, especially Oldscool, my very best wishes.
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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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Scared the hell out of us too. Thinking of all involved.
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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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Sideshow_Bob, I haven't heard any differently so they may not yet be sorted fully.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Apologies to all those directly and indirectly involved for bringing it up but I didn't want those who hadn't heard to blunder into accidentally insensitive comments. Obviously my best wishes, and I'm sure those of all snowheads go to Oldscool for his recovery.
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| Hurtle wrote: |
| Sideshow_Bob, admin, I do hope that Oldscool's condition improves and that the rest of you who remain affected recover your bounce in due course. I can't think of a more chastening experience - the news scared the hell out of me, and I wasn't even there. To you all, especially Oldscool, my very best wishes. |
My sentiments exactly!
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Hi all, many thanks for all support.. Being new to snow heads, well at least before this trip, I have found it amazing how everyone has looked out for each other. Especially for all you guys with me on the Charvet and on the trip, I hope you can somehow find something positive in the experience. It's not easy for you or me, but I hope as time goes on that it will be. The t shirt you all signed is still hanging by the side of my bed reminding me of a group of new friends I've gained that week
All I can say for those who want to learn something from what happened: educate yourself about off poste skiing and dangers as much as possible, I probably would not have made it out alive if I hadn't. And don't blindly rely on the guide, if you're not happy say so. Too many (fatal) accidents in the alps this year have happened with a guide. Other than that smile and enjoy 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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oldscool, welcome back. Great post.
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oldscool, welcome back; best wishes to you
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FAQ
wish u were here to see it!
