French Avalanche Analysis for 2005-2006
PisteHors have published their annual review, excellent and informative as always, of the French Avalanche statistics and reports from last season.
The winter of 2005-2006 was the deadliest since 1970 term of French avalanche deaths. 55 people were killed in the five month period from December to April with a further two deaths in August on Mont-Blanc. Last winter the number of fatalities was double the long term average and the number of fatal accidents was nearly three times the average.
This analysis should be required reading for anyone who even thinks about venturing away from the piste and reports a couple of events that should give us all pause for thought:-
- One particularly sobering, and fatal, avalanche occurred on a commonly used link between two pistes in Tignes.
- Two skiers buried by an avalanche had a lucky escape when another group passing the debris noticed their tracks leading in and had the good sense to do a precautionary scan with their beacons. Always wear a transceiver off-piste - even if you don’t need it, you might just find someone who does!
See An Analysis of French Avalanche Accidents for 2005-2006 for more detail, and to view the full report (PDF).
