 Poster: A snowHead
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Startled drivers had to avoid a barking mad Italian as he drove through the Mont Blanc tunnel at speeds in excess of 100mph on the wrong side of the road.
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=348052004
It is the fifth anniversary of the Mont Blanc tunnel fire in which 39 people died. Last Wednesday 39 white crosses were placed at the entrances. The tunnel was closed for three years after the accident for rebuilding and a revision of security. The trial of Michel Charlet, the Mayor of Chamonix and other responsible persons is due to start around the 10th of January 2005 and will last 3 months.
In May, 2003, Mr Charlet was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for his actions relating to the Montroc avalanche.
http://www.pistehors.com/articles/avalanche/montroc.htm
Mr Charvet faces the same charge for the Mont Blanc trial.
ps
following a number of recent emails I would just like to remind the Italian, or members of his family that anyone who drives through a tunnel on the wrong side of the road is: barking mad!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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davidof, I agree the unfortunate Italian was insane ("barking mad") - I suggest he intended to die, and having failed in the tunnel, made sure when he got to France by driving into a concrete barrier. Poor man.
I have read your article twice on the avalanche, and am unable to see why Mr Charlet was considered responsible for the unfortunate deaths from the avalanche. I am completely unclear as to why he is being prosecuted for the tunnel fire. Am I missing something? 
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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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davidof, I'm troubled. After all, across the channel you all drive on the wrong side of the road 
As for the guy, I don't know, there is no mention whether he was drunk, mentally insane, was doing it out of a bet, or wanted to commit suicide to reasons unknown to us. In some Italian net-newspapers it is written he had spent the night in Trento with friends, but Trento is halfawy across northern Italy! I would (if the report is true) deduce from this that he spent the night some 400 km away, drove all night to Courmayeur, entered the tunnel, and inside it fell sick or had a "sleep-attack"?
I guess we'll have to wait for his recovery (if it happens) to try and find an explanation. But then I don't know why an explanation of this act is necessary, it was an irresponsible thing to do, no matter whatever reason was done for.
On a side consideration, I try to avoid long tunnels like the one under the MontBlanc and the one at the St Gotthard is Switzerland like the pest.
I always feel sleepy while driving inside those, at a reduced and monotonous speed.
As for Chamonix Mayor, I think that it's a case of "now that the horses have fled, let's close the stall" , let me explain, had the research been thorought, the mayor should have never allowed the building of houses in that area, because the risk of avalanches should have been correctly assessed. Since mayor was the one to sign the permission to buy/sell in that area, he is now being held responsible for the deaths. I think it's "political" more than anything else.
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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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| Jonpim wrote: |
| I have read your article twice on the avalanche, and am unable to see why Mr Charlet was considered responsible for the unfortunate deaths from the avalanche. I am completely unclear as to why he is being prosecuted for the tunnel fire. Am I missing something? :? |
No I think that is a reasonable statement. As mayor he is responsible but it doesn't really seem to be his fault. I suppose the 'victims' need an insurance company to claim from but that is just speculation.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
So apart from the extra hour on the journey there was also the 2 x €28 toll!!
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Ouch! Mark that's painful. You should have followed the signs for Claviere and the col de Montgevre, but I suppose you know that now. I went through the Frejus tunnel a couple of years ago as a change from the col du Lauteret, and to have a look at the Maurienne valley. I'm sure the toll was about £15 then so it has nearly doubled. I will not be using it again. What were the snow conditions like in Serre che?
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| pistemeister wrote: |
| Quote: |
So apart from the extra hour on the journey there was also the 2 x €28 toll!!
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Ouch! Mark that's painful. You should have followed the signs for Claviere and the col de Montgevre, but I suppose you know that now. I went through the Frejus tunnel a couple of years ago as a change from the col du Lauteret, and to have a look at the Maurienne valley. I'm sure the toll was about £15 then so it has nearly doubled. I will not be using it again. What were the snow conditions like in Serre che? |
Painful and embarrassing  In defense, though, the signpost system caught me out - lack of familiarity.
The snow was pretty good - the exposed lower slopes (Luc Alphand and all down towards Briancon) were "interesting" from about midday, but by and large everything else was good, and towards the end of the week, great. Recent snowfall had picked up particles of sand from the Sahara, so there was an odd sandy tinge to the slopes - very peculiar.
You sound as though you know the area quite well...
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Matteo, ref Charvet.... there have been scandals of this nature all over France. Rumours of underhand deals that resulted in planning permission being granted to build in areas which fall below the official flood limit, for example. Many deaths occurred just down the road from where I lived, in 1991, when the Ouvèze river burst its banks (Vaison la Romaine). I suppose by taking the once untouchable bureaucrats to task and prosecuting them for criminal negligence when events such as these can be foreseen (after all, flood plains do flood), there might be a little more care taken in the future.
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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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PG, I remember Vaison la Romaine, but I think it was in late 1992 since I was living in Montpellier then....am I wrong?
As for the scandals, a couple of those things happened here as well, mostly in southern Italy...but also in northern Italy, remember the Valtellina flooding on the mid '80? People were so fed up by the governement alleged inefficiency that the mayors kept declaring "send the money over to us, we'll take care by ourselves of the damages and of the reconstruction"...
So it's the same here, the bureaucrats tend to forget that they are in charge to best serve us, not the reverse.
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Matteo, No you're correct - it was of course '92.... Sept 22nd.... estimated 41 died (they were never 100% sure, because of all the tourists who had disappeared who had been camping near the river.)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks PG I was thinking that my memories were betraying me, I lived in France Sept 1st 1992 till Aug 31st 1996 (my two sons were born in Montpellier)...
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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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| Quote: |
You sound as though you know the area quite well...
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Yes mark I have stayed there several times, I think it is a good area if you have a car, you can ski in Mongenevre, Puy st Vincent, Vallouise and La Grave all within 30 to 45 minutes drive. I have seen the sand tinged snow a couple of times I wonder if it is peculiar to serre che or if other resorts are affected to the same degree? Did you sample the off piste at all?
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Don't some countries have it written into their constitution that if someone dies unlawfully, then someone has to be held responsible? I thought that Italy was like that...is France? This is from memory of the Senna crash, so I'm quite prepared to be wrong.
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You know it makes sense.
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pistemeister the sand coloured snow affects the whole of the Alps. If a mass of air comes from the Sahara and meets with a mass of air carrying snow, voilà, it will happens. Nearly every time sands falls down, I see it "live" at home, north of Milan. And it's not only the snow in winter, althought this time, the phenomena was observed everywhere in Italy. But it has happened
during the fall as well, in which case we have a mixture of sand and rain.
skanky I don't know. I'll check, if I can find a copy of the constituion.
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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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pistemeister, off piste was either like concrete above 1800, or weak crust with poor snow under - as I found out sinking a tail and popping the binding, then struggling to extract a buried leg! Even the instructor with me decided against trying to ski the stuff! After watching me flailing about, that is.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Matteo, 9th August 1994.... I was at the Pink Floyd concert in Montpellier (Division Bell Tour). Were you there?!
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