 Poster: A snowHead
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I really hope that the outcome of this is positive, I think many of us can relate to the 'one last run' thing and I suspect few of us would have any second thoughts about doing a last run on our own.
| richjp wrote: |
| I think this highlights a problem. Just when do you call the emergency services? |
I once lost track of a mate on a night out in Stockholm and called the emergency services probably (in retrospect) far too quickly. We'd been drinking fairly heavily and the last I saw of him was when he was being escorted out of a club. I was having a good night with a group of Peruvians and French so I didn't bother following my mate initially. After a while though I decided that I should probably find out where he was, so I asked around the people that we were with (I must have thought that the bouncers had only had a word with him and then let him back in) and then went outside to see if he was there. He wasn't so I collected my coat and walked back to the hostel (although in my fairly inebriated state I took a ridiculously long and circuitous route). When I got into the hostel I went straight to the dorm and Dan wasn't in his bed. It's at that point that I panicked. I left the hostel to wander back to the club, trying to see if he was anywhere along the route. On the way I called 112 to see if he'd been arrested for something or cropped up in a hospital. He hadn't. By now I was really worried, it was late December so the temperature was around freezing and I knew it wouldn't be food if he was out in it. There was still no sign of him when I got to the club so I turned around and went back to the hostel again, really worried about where he could be. Upon getting back to the dorm I was mightily relieved to find that he was laid in his bunk.
It turned out that he'd taken a similarly circuitous route back to the hostel that I did on my first attempt, and when he got in he made a beeline for the communal computers so that he could send me a message (I think his phone had no battery). It must have been around that time that I initially wandered into the dorm to find his bed empty, and I never thought to check the communal rooms. The next morning I logged into Facebook to find a message which read "dude i dont know if you can see this but i got turfed out of the club for having too funky moves. im back at the hostel. peace. ps people are having sex in the common room place. im not joking. im scared but i cant leave. i dont know what the etiket is"
Apologies that this may appear a bit of a glib post, however I feel that there's a point. Even though it turned out that calling 112 was a bit ridiculous due to the outcome, I'm still very glad that I phoned. It was probably only an hour from when I lost track of my mate to when I made the phonecall, but in that time I'd managed to get fairly lost myself and was pretty cold. It wouldn't have taken a particularly big change in circumstances for it to have been a serious issue, and if I was put in the same situation now then I'd probably do exactly the same....other than I'd have made more of an effort with one of the French girls.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A very sad situation.There have been lots of comments about safety on the mountain, disorientation in poor conditions etc. It always amazes me how many skiers are unaware of how to use the piste poles. Not only do they tell skiers the grading of the slope, but if you look more closely the RIGHT hand side ski pole has a wide orange band.....this helps massively with orientation in bad conditions, and I've been caught in many white outs when this information has kept me on piste. Another top tip is to ski as close to the poles as possible, if you can spot the foot of the pole then it gives some perspective. It amazes me how many skiers are not aware of the piste pole "orange strip".....so if this (rare) post by me helps to avoid just one (potential) tragedy, then I've done my job.Thanks for reading. I know this applies in France, not sure about other countries.
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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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@lambert, Yes, it pays to be able to distinguish RH and LH piste markers, see this thread: http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=131192
As mentioned, there is no universal marking system, it differs from country to country, so the best thing to do is when you first get to a resort check out what system they use. 
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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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My thoughts are with John's family and friends, this is terribly sad.
@lambert, Your not wrong about the strip on the poles, but I did a straw poll among my 5 friends last year in Tignes, and none were aware - despite being experienced skiers.
Whiteout and foggy conditions play games with your mind though.
Again in Tignes about 10 years ago, we were traversing a fairly empty piste late in the day, en route to the apartment. Conditions got so bad I couldn't tell up from down and left the piste between poles resulting in a fall headfirst into a large drift.
My companions didn't even see or hear me go.
No harm done, retrieved my skis and poles, climbed out and got home safe.........but it was a practical lesson in how easy it is to get disorientated.
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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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| Pending wrote: |
@Pelle958, I'm so sorry for what you and your family are going through. I will be in the area the week after next and John will be in my thoughts.
I know how easy it is to take a wrong turn in deep snow and poor visibility, it happened me over New Year. It was an area I wasn't familiar with, visibility was awful, I'd been talking safety to my son prior to the run, we were going very slowly piste marker by piste marker, and didn't notice the piste take an almost 90 degree turn. We skied straight through 2 piste markers which were about the width apart as the successive ones had seemed to be, not realising they were both on the same side of the piste. There was deep snow everywhere so that wasn't a clue we'd gone off piste. We were lucky. It could have ended very differently, particularly as there wouldn't have been anyone else to raise the alarm. Not for a few days anyhow. Wow, that's a sobering thought. |
I've done similar on a number of ocassions. A couple of memorable ones; in Avoriaz fairly late in the day when my son had given up and gone home with the wife, I went for one last run and ended up at the top of Grandes Combes I think, really bad visibility, blowing a gale. You couldn't see to the next piste marker and there had been a lot of snow blurring the line between piste and off piste. For a while I was in a little panic, not wanting to see off too far in case going in the wrong direction. Stood still for a while deciding what to do, and fortunately some other (Brits) came along. Tagged along behind them, and eventually got down to Prodains, wondering why on earth I was still out as that wasn't fun at all. On another ocassion I was with my son in Kitteljell, Norway, he was 7 years old at the time. Terrible visibility, couldn't see the chair infront on the lift. We decided to ski down and go home, but not knowing the exact way followed another family. You couldn't be more than a couple of meters apart for fear of losing each other. Started to come into an area with cabins, thinking where on earth are we going. Then suddenly the family had disappeared (probably down some little track to their cabin). We carried on down some roads, over a bridge, God knows where but finally came out at the hotel there. We were doing high fives and agreeing not to tell mum. Of course he immediately told mum that we got lost.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The police were able to geolocalise the missing British skier's phone, so they know roughly where his phone is, and presumably where the man is but have not been able to locate him despite using avalanche dogs etc.
Similar situation in the Pyrenees where a local man has been missing for a week. He had an avalanche beacon but no trace despite the police having a really good idea where he is.
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SUGGESTION
I will start a new thread on 'the time(s) I got lost' and then stories can be exchanged there, and humour and other emotions injected as needed. But my suggestion is that this thread is left specifically to news and information relating to this person and family, who are still anxious for news and will be scanning this thread amongst other actions. This is still a live situation, with the person still unaccounted for. The family needs all the support it can get, I think.
Does that seem sensible?
I've started it here:
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=3167926#3167926
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@valais2, very sensible indeed
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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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I was on my own when I strayed inadvertently off piste in bad vis. As there was soft snow on piste, I wasn't immediately aware I was now off piste. Fortunately I realised that whilst the snow was delightful, I was definitely not where I should be. I was lucky. I could make out a piste marker and ski towards the piste, and there were no traps in the terrain until I was safely back on track. Off many other pistes the outcome could have been much grimmer.
This thread has given me food for thought. My heart goes out to Pelle658, and the missing man's family.
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Wonder how many know the piste markers will tell you which side of the piste you are on due to their colour ?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Me and wife once once ended up taking a wrong turn in fog whiteout on the run that goes from the top of Galzig to the Schindler chair in St. Anton. Before we knew what was happening we were miles off piste in an area that has plenty of cliffs and eventually ended up in St.Christoph. No harm done, but could easily have gone badly wrong. To this day I don't really know where we went wrong! Likewise a friend took a slight wrong turn at the Valuga and instead of ending up in Mattun, ended up in a valley that took him all the way to a place called Kaisers (seriously in the middle of nowhere). He ended up hitching a lift off a local who took him to Reutte, then back over the Fernpass to St.Anton by Taxi! It happens so fast!
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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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Perhaps all considering posting here can look at SUGGESTION above and post on the other thread.
Perhaps wise to keep this thread here for anyone who has:
1 news from the official community in Tignes
2 any informal news which might help the family - eg from conversations with Tignes pisteurs
3 any direct experience or professional knowledge which would help the family at this difficult time - practicalities....
All general and personal stories just hanging on this story can go over to the other thread and keep this clear?
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Thank you all for your kind comments
Sadly John is still missing out there somewhere
it will be a week tomorrow since he was last seen exiting the chairs
it has been a very long 6 days reading thousands of articles/pages/websites and being fixed to news channels just in the hope of any news or information on John
The whole of johns family are very grateful for the people involved in the search for John some of which are willing to put their own life at risk looking for him
I would like to ask anybody travelling to or staying in the area if possible please lookout for John
Thank you everybody please be safe out there and enjoy
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You know it makes sense.
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@Pelle958, You have my sympathies at this difficult time. The uncertainty is almost worse than definite bad news. As a grand father my self please give my best wishes to his grandmother. They say that losing a child is bad but losing a grand child is even crueller.
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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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| Pelle958 wrote: |
Thank you all for your kind comments
Sadly John is still missing out there somewhere
it will be a week tomorrow since he was last seen exiting the chairs
it has been a very long 6 days reading thousands of articles/pages/websites and being fixed to news channels just in the hope of any news or information on John
The whole of johns family are very grateful for the people involved in the search for John some of which are willing to put their own life at risk looking for him
I would like to ask anybody travelling to or staying in the area if possible please lookout for John
Thank you everybody please be safe out there and enjoy |
Would just like to pass my sympathies to you all also, it must be an extremely tough time right now. I've done two seasons in Tignes and John has been on my mind an awful lot, if I was there again this year id be happy to help in some way. in the mean time lots of thoughts an love to you all.
I hope you get some answers sooner rather than later.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| davidof wrote: |
| achilles wrote: |
| Maybe someone who is more versed in snow survival than I could advise. |
They'll probably find him in April. |
Found
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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What, it's taken till now? 
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| admin wrote: |
| What, it's taken till now? |
I read that he was found in the gorge below Lavachat. This is steep sided and would be difficult if not impossible to climb out of.
Because of the avi risk from 'the wall' above and the terrain trap that the gorge presents, it's not somewhere that could be safely searched until now.
We'll never know how he ended up there but it is so very sad that he lost his life.
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FAQ
