France may limit off-piste access
Avalanche danger the driving force for change
by Aimee Furber
The death of Doug Coombs in La Grave in April, and the deaths of seven other backcountry skiers during one week in June, make it clear that the spring and summer months haven’t brought an end to one of the deadliest seasons ever in France. The increase in avalanche fatalities and injuries has French officials contemplating a change in off-piste policy.
“It is not clear if anything will change immediately, but there seems to be a move by the mayors at least to take less and less risk as people and their insurers can sue them if they have an accident,” says David George of pistehors.com, a French backcountry skiing website.
According to George, the mayors have the right to limit backcountry access if they consider a particular area dangerous. For example, they could ban off-piste skiing or ski touring in a particular area due to avalanche danger. Already there have been limitations placed on backcountry access—a popular off-piste area near Chamonix was declared a “nature reserve” by the mayor in order to keep skiers and snowboarders out.
According to National Avalanche Study Center in Grenoble, France, 93 people were caught in avalanches this year, and 43 of them died of their injuries or suffocation. This is the largest number of incidents the center has recorded in their 35 years of existence. Out of the 93 incidents, about a quarter were from touring and 60 percent were from backcountry skiing or snowboarding. In each case about half of the incidents resulted in death.
In February, France’s Minster of the Interior Nicholas Sarkozy announced a new plan to limit risk-taking skiers and snowboarders that put others in danger. Sarkozy was addressing the French resorts, but the increased focus on safety has already affected backcountry skiing.
In addition to the deaths of skiers there have been eight search and rescue workers killed since December. Three of those deaths were the result of a helicopter crash. The Eurocopter 145 was recently introduced as the new search and rescue helicopter. “It seems to have a problem at high altitude,” said George. “Celebrated pilot trainer Rene Romet doesn't like the EC145 for high altitude work.”
The excessive number of deaths is related to a season of extreme avalanche danger, rather than increased risky skiing in the backcountry. Pisthors.com reported serious avalanche risk in weather reports every month throughout the season. In April they noted on their reports, “It is particularly impressive to see all the snow slabs that have come down over the last few weeks. A real reminder of the very unstable conditions we had this winter.” |
