 Poster: A snowHead
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To date, there have been 7 deaths due to avalanches in France this season, compared to none at the same time last year. Five of the people who died were off piste skiing or snowboarding, 1 was on snowshoes and 1 was ski touring. According to a review by PisteHors, several factors were involved such as skiing when the avalanche risk was 3 or 4, not being properly equipped for going off-piste, and the unusually heavy snowfall so early in the season....See PisteHors for more: http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/1066-new-years-avalanche-round-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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It is well worth reading the whole of Davidof's excellent article. Time and time again he mentions those involved in the avalanches (and skiing off-piste) were not wearing Transceivers.
Whether this season turns out to be particularly bad for avalanche injuries, we must just wait and see. A quick perusal of the PisteHors archive on avalanches shows they tend to come in clusters which often result in dramatic headlines at the time, but the total number for each season has remained more or less constant.
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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 was in Tignes at the time of one of these where a group had reportedly being skiing off-piste on a 4 without beeps or any other gear... crazy!
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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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It's logical that they come in clusters.. they'll come after a heavy dump of snow, when folk go out to get fresh tracks without being properly equipped or assessing the situation. I think we're not far enough into the season for any meaningful trend to have developed. As Jonpim says, it'll probably even out throughout the season.
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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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[quote] It is the early thin snowpack and cold November followed by the varied conditions which seem to have created the instabilities[\quote]
Last season it was apparently the unprecedentedly warm November that seemed to cause the problems...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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James the Last, last season had pretty stable snow conditions, as noted in the article above (no fatalities at this time last season).
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The law of small numbers.
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