J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by SwingBeep

bandit wrote: Swingbeep, hmmm, the view of the mountains surrounding the Poma above, look very similar to those around the top lift in Grimentz.

Thought you'd spot where it was. -) Not really a beginners lift is it? :D



Until 1982 Lona 1 and Lona 2 were one lift, at 2.3km it was one of the longest in Switzerland

Because they run at pretty high speeds and because the bends can be difficult to negotiate
some resorts put up warning notices.



The main problem is that the mechanism which is supposed to give a smoothish start doesn't take the weight of the skier into account, so lighter skiers are lifted off the ground. As with all drag lifts if you don't concentrate you'll end up on your backside.



Sometimes the mechanism jams



If these lifts are used to service beginner slopes they don't have bends and the speed is reduced to about 2.5 m/s. These days fixed grip lifts are preferred for this purpose, they cost less and are cheaper to maintain.

The rope lift is still very popular in small ski areas. There are two types, ones with wire ropes and fixed handles and ones with man made fibre ropes without handles. Make sure you get off in good time when you reach the top. One of my friends didn't, she triggered the emergency stop mechanism, but it failed to stop the lift and had the top of her middle finger chopped off when it got between the rope and the pulley, she was in the US at the time and was awarded $10,000 in compensation.

Poma lifts are mainly found in French speaking ski resorts here in Europe. They have a several advantages compared to other types of drag lift, they're faster 4 m/s / 14.4 kph, a T bar runs at about 2.5 m/s. They can make three changes of direction whereas a T bar can only do two, unfortunately as you ride alone there's nobody else to blame if you fall off! Amazingly the basic design has remained unchanged since the 1940s, Jean Pomagalski must have been a very good engineer. I don't think the telescopic towhangers are pneumatic, they probably use compression springs. They can be a bit tricky to get onto, but Swiss skiers usually manage perfectly well without the aid of an attendant. -)



Instructions on how to get into a moving basket lift would also be very useful.:D

A versatile ski is normally described as a polyvalent ski in French.

I have heard the word accessible used in relation to skis. The contact length of a fully cambered ski remains constant no matter what the edge angle is.




Whereas the full contact length of a 'rockered' ski is only available at a high edge angle.




Many skiers don't have the ability to tip a 'rockered' ski to the angle required for the ski's edge to be in full contact with the snow, so the full contact length is not accessible.

Glad you got things sorted Snapzz. If you wanted to book one of those apartments for new year via the French letting agents it would cost you 1950 Euro. The Maeva apartments belong to P&V so this is a very good upgrade :thumbup:

I found the information I posted yesterday on the Austrian TV news website. I have since found some further and probably more reliable info on the Salzburg area mountain rescue service website.

They say she was buried under 1/2 a metre of snow and not 1 metre.

The court did take into account the effect that they weren't wearing and didn't have their transceivers switched on had on the outcome. If they had used them he should have been able to find her in about 10 to 15 minutes and she might have lived. The doctor called by the prosecution (the Salzburg district medical officer) said she died of asphyxiation, the two emergency doctors called by the defence said she broke her neck. The judges preferred the medical officer's evidence. There was also the unnecessary endangerment of the rescue team, the rescue involved 35 rescuers, 4 rescue dogs with handlers, the Alpinpolizei and two helicopters. Rescues aren't free in Austria, maybe his insurance will now decline to pay for this one.

During the proceedings he said that he hadn't read the avalanche bulletin for that day, which warned about dangerous amounts of wind driven snow on leeward slopes. He also said that his wife had always trusted him, this presumably means that she was not part of the decision making process.

His defence lawyer is also the vice president of the Austrian Alpine Club, the defence avalanche expert seems to have been a local rescue leader, he said that snow transport was not evident. I get the impression that the judges thought that the relationships were a bit too cosy.

To secure a conviction in these cases I think the prosecution has to prove negligence, this is normally very difficult, it now seems to me that there was ample evidence especially when you take into account that he had been ski touring for 27 years. The transceiver saga beggars belief.

Ski tourers often don't wear helmets as they spend most of their time trudging up hill.

They were both experienced ski tourers. He had already done 69 tours that season (he had recently retired) and she had done 22. They were skiing a lightly wooded 35 degree slope, the avalanche danger was at level 3. They had both skied the same slope a few weeks previously in the company of the leader of the local mountain rescue, also at level 3.

When he triggered the avalanche she tried to rescue herself by heading into a more thickly wooded area but disappeared in a cloud of snow. She was found under a metre of snow with severe head injuries and a mouth full of snow, after a 2 hour search by the rescue service. They pronounced her dead at the scene.

The court seems to have decided, on the basis of an opinion from an avalanche expert that the husband should have known that the slope might avalanche and should have prevented his wife from skiing it. The fact that her transceiver was switched off and in her rucksack doesn't seem to have been an issue, it wouldn't have saved her anyway.

It would appear that the court decided that the husband was the de facto leader and was therefore responsible for his wife's actions.

The Austrian mountaineering organisations are worried that this conviction could lead to a flood of similar cases.

"Light" sentences seem to be the norm these cases. This is probably because of the differing legal systems, the UK has an adversarial system, whereas mainland European countries have inquisitorial systems, apart from Italy which has a bit of both.

http://www.wsl.ch/info/mitarbeitende/schweizj/publications/Schweizer_Harvey_Legal_consequences_ISSW2006.pdf

It sounds to me like the accommodation provider has pulled out of the contract, maybe they've gone bust or there's been a change of ownership, better offer etc. So there's not much Crystal or any other TO could have done about it. Doing business in France can be quite challenging.

Crystal are by far the biggest tour operator, with a large (over 30%) and increasing share of the market so they don't need to offer you anything more than they are legally obliged to. If you take your custom elsewhere there are enough people ready and willing take your place.

The free lift pass is a none starter. Most of the big French lift companies are part of the same company the Compagnie des Alpes http://www.compagniedesalpes.com/en/dom_ski_cda (if you buy 400 shares they will give you a six day pass). It is in turn part of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations an investment group controlled by the French government. As they are by far the largest player in the French market there is no need for them to offer Crystal or anyone else a discount passes.

The 2 for 1 offers are usually financed by the tourist organisations and are only available during low season.

Looks like your stuck between a rock and a hard place, one bedroom is not what you want, paying the extra 200 quid for two bedrooms will leave a nasty taste in your mouth and cancelling might end up costing you even more.

No, the lifts closed at the end of April, but there were some good powder days.



Might be worth a look if they have to leave the Euro.