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| Worst winter for a generation in French Alps | 08/02/2011 15:37 |
| 20.6°C at Luchon at 618 meters in the Pyrenees, 19.6°C at Chamonix in the Haute-Savoie at 1000m, 19°C at la Mure close to Grenoble at 920m and 18.7 at Bourg-St-Maurice/les Arcs at 868 meters. No we are not talking about the first days of summer but the 7th of February as thermometers registered temperatures never seen in February in the French Mountains. There has been no significant snowfall in the French Alps since the 11th January. Pistes at a French ski resort situated at 1650 meters on Sunday | |
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| Guide injured by avalanche charge | 24/01/2011 15:47 |
| Last week 63 year old High Mountain Guide Jean-Louis Lechène based in Cauterets in the Pyrenees set out from Lys on a ski tour. His objective, the west ridge of the Monné where he continued his climb on crampons. During his climb he spotted a long aluminium tube embedded in the snow. He immediately recognized it as a charge fired from a compressed air avalanche canon. The charge would normally explode with the aim of triggering any avalanche above the resort?s ski pistes before they are opened. Avalancheur in action - http://www.zapiks.fr/l-avalancheur.html | |
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| Dynafit Failure | 22/01/2011 7:15 |
| Here presented are photos and testimony of a total binding failure while skiing the Dynafit FT binding. I am 6?2?, 185lbs on Factor Boots and Megawatt skis 2008 model (white). The bindings that failed were FT 92mm binding (re-fitted with 110mm breaks), Din 12 and purchased in France on March 2010. The bindings were mounted with a jig by a Dynafit certified technician on a new pair of skis. | |
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| Avalanche airbags, training and risk homeostasis | 28/12/2010 12:19 |
| You are standing at the top of a north facing bowl with your buddies. You pull your collar up to keep out the cold. The wind is blowing against your back, you can hear tiny snow crystals as they impact on your helmet. Below an untouched stash of powder on a 35 degree slope running out into woods. Perfect ski conditions. You don?t want to hang around. You agree with your friends to ski one at a time and wait at the tree line, a great spot to grab some video. Helmetcam? check, shovel, probe? check, beacon, uh oh. Avalanche airbag survivor, photo D.Givois | |
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| Plum Guide: New Binding on the Block | 20/12/2010 4:01 |
| We recently had the opportunity to visit the Felisaz production facility in the French Haute-Savoie. Felisaz have just released a new ?tech? compliant ski touring binding which looks like being the most serious competitor yet to Dynafit?s dominance in this sector. | |
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| Review of French Avalanche Incidents for 2009/10 | 19/12/2010 15:52 |
| The 2009-2010 ski season in France saw 41 avalanche fatalities in 33 incidents. The number of incidents is the worst figure since 1989/90 excepting the winter of 2005/6. Worryingly for the avalanche educators and the rescue services the last three seasons have seen an upward trend in both fatalities and incidents which can only partially be explained by the snow conditions. | |
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| Backcountry and off piste rescue operations and methods | 14/12/2010 17:29 |
| The ANENA (French Association for the Study of Snow and Avalanches) has analyzed 368 avalanche incidents between 2004-2010 and as a result have some important recommendations. With the widespread use of Recco detectors by the rescue services they say that off piste skiers consider using both reflectors and an avalanche beacon. While companion rescue remains important for survival rates, especially for off-piste skiers, the rescue services should be involved as soon a possible without jeopardizing the search of any victims. Calling the local PGHM or piste service number is fastest but you will need to give your exact location (reference points: valley name, summit/passes, altitude) as well as the number of victims. | |
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| Ortovox wins patent case against Pulse | 03/12/2010 6:02 |
| Ortovox has won an important patent case against the Barryvox Pulse concerning technology developed for the Ortovox S1 transceiver. The Ortovox patent covers the combination of magnetic compass signals with signals transmitted from an avalanche transceiver to give a 360° direction information even in situations where digital transceivers have difficulty in displaying a signal, for example during a pause in transmission or where signals overlap. | |
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| North America updates avalanche danger scale | 18/11/2010 9:22 |
| Introduced in Europe during 1993/4 winter the five level avalanche danger scale was adopted, with minor changes, in America and Canada the following year. Despite criticism of the five levels and their interpretation the advantages of having a single scale across different countries are evident. | |
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| Estimating the avalanche risk | 12/11/2010 8:50 |
| The daily avalanche bulletin is a key piece of information for route planning however in France the full bulletin does not appear until mid December when ski resorts start to open. The data used to compile the bulletin comes in large part from the ski resort?s weather services. The Massif Central, Vosges and Jura are not covered by an avalanche bulletin at all and this is also the case in a number countries. | |
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