J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by SwingBeep

Ally

As far as I am aware there is no way to ascertain the number of people who ski off piste, it is still a minority but due to improvements in equipment it's growing every year. Stöckli are expecting a 30% increase in the sales of all mountain skis this season.

Snowcrazy

The figures are specific to Switzerland. They detail the frequency of the individual danger levels recorded between 1998 and 2008 by the Swiss Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) http://www.slf.ch/ which engages in research, scientific services, teaching and public relations, focusing on snow, the atmosphere, natural hazards, permafrost and mountain ecosystems. Currently it employs 130 people from 15 different countries. I obtained the information from these two documents: http://www.slf.ch/dienstleistungen/merkblaetter/Attention_Avalanches_e.pdf and http://www.slf.ch/lawineninfo/zusatzinfos/interpretationshilfe/interpretationshilfe_e.pdf both are in English. You might also like to read this leaflet http://www.bfu.ch/PDFLib/1036_42.pdf issued by the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention

The translations of the danger levels were agreed in 1993 when representatives of the European alpine countries agreed on a uniform definition of the avalanche danger levels, the current 5 point scale.

In the last paragraph of Jason's post he writes "So there you have it, yet another company saying, do not ski in avalanche level 4 (significant risk) and you must always carry avalanchr safety equipment on all occasions" it appears that he has interpreted "significant" as level 4. I think significant is more likely to mean level 3, considerable / erheblich / marqué / marcato.

Here in Canton Valais there is a law governing so called "risk sports". It regulates the activities of outdoor professionals, including mountain guides and ski instructors. It requires that they obtain a permit from the canton before starting work. This is issued free of charge on production of a valid qualification (Swiss level 3 / ISIA card in the case of ski instructors) and proof of liability insurance to the value of 10 million francs. Working without a permit could result in a fine of between 5 and 25,000 francs. Once an instructor has a permit he /she may work in accordance with the law irrespective of experience. For further details see Ordonnance sur l'exercice / Verordnung here: http://www.vs.ch/Navig/navig.asp?MenuID=23067&Language=fr&RefMenuID=23053&RefServiceID=356&link= At the moment this applies only to canton Valais but a national law is being drafted. I am not a ski instructor so I can't provide any info about their insurance.

With regard to the legal aspects I thought this article was interesting especially the section "Risk community, and de facto leader" it's in German but you can get the gist if it via Google translate http://translate.google.ch/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.powderguide.com%2Fmagazin.php%3FID_Sub%3D2778%26display%3D833

It has been reported in a Swiss Sunday paper that three skiers who triggered an avalanche, which injured three skiers on a piste in Anzère last December are to be prosecuted. If found guilty they face a maximum penalty of 3 years in jail. They will also be liable for damages. The rescue required 3 helicopters 130 rescuers and 8 avalanche dogs. PisteHors has further details http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/0995-swiss-prosecution-could-impact-off-piste-skiing/?gid=995000
There was a similar incident in Zermatt last December when a group comprising 2 adults and 5 children (all from the same family) triggered a 30 metre wide 200 meter long avalanche that reached the piste near the restaurant at Grünsee, taking them with it. The police have charged the parents and the eldest child (19) with the same offence. The examining magistrate has yet decided on whether to prosecute.

Obviously this depends on the weather conditions, but on average the danger level here is forecasted to be at: level 1 for about 20% of the winter, level 2 for 50% of the winter, level 3 for 33% of the winter and level 4 only on a few days. Level 5 is rarely forecasted, on average only for one day a season.

Approximately 7% of recreational avalanche fatalities occur at level 1, 34% at level 2, 47% at level 3 and 12% at level 4. There are normally no recreational fatalities at level 5.

„Akute Lawinengefahr" / "ACUTE AVALANCHE DANGER" – I wonder why they don't use the European avalanche hazard scale danger levels as agreed by the alpine countries in 1993?

In Valais fully qualified (ISIA card) ski instructors are allowed to instruct clients off piste provided that the area chosen is accessible from the top lift, does not involve crossing a glacier and does not require any special equipment for the descent. They may also guide clients off piste (if necessary using skins) for the purposes of instruction and to provide variety, in terrain that does not contain any alpine dangers, glaciers, extremely steep slopes and that is easily accessible from the lifts.

On the Facebook page Jason Cleverly posted a reply from Direct Travel: "If the avalanche warnings do not indicate that there is a significant risk then you will be covered." He goes on to quantify this as meaning level 4, however "erheblich," the German word for level 3 / considerable, can also be translated as significant whereas "gross" level 4 cannot.

I thought it might be helpful to see what our obligations are under Swiss law.
This document http://www.seilbahnen.org/dcs/users/6/Verkehrssicherungspflicht_06_d.pdf issued by Seilbahnen Schweiz, http://www.seilbahnen.org/index_de.html the Swiss cable way operators association, lists the measures that the lift companies have to take to ensure safety. It also details the consequences of reckless behaviour on our behalf which includes ignoring avalanche warnings. This can lead to prosecution (as a last resort) under the road traffic act. There are no laws relating specifically to snow sports here in Switzerland; the law treats ski runs as roads. It would be a really bad idea to trigger an avalanche that ran onto a piste, as you would also be liable for the cost of searching the debris for any victims (if there were any victims the consequences will be severe, and may result in trial for manslaughter). You would also have to pay for cleaning up the mess.

The competent local authority in these matters is the piste service and the patrollers are empowered to undertake duties normally carried out by the police, such as the investigation of accidents and the apprehension of people suspected of committing a criminal offence. There is a copy of an accident report form here: http://www.seilbahnen.org/dcs/users/174/ProtokollQuerA4_d.pdf

The document above is based on guidelines produced by SKUS, the Swiss Commission for Accident Prevention on Ski Runs http://www.skus.ch/ There is a considerable amount of legal information on their website including a synopsis of the legal implications of skiing off piste, provided by a state prosecutor from Canton Berne: http://www.skus.ch/pdf/__Lawinen_Freeriden%20und%20Variantenfahren.pdf

Unfortunately none of this information is available in English, but some of it is available in French and Italian.

The avalanche bulletins are issued by a Swiss government agency, the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (part of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research) with input from the local avalanche warning services. (Here in Valais each valley has its own team, usually made up of mountain guides and a member of the local ski resort piste service). The supreme court considers the avalanche bulletins reliable enough to be used as evidence. Other alpine countries have similar organisations - see the links here: http://www.avalanches.org/

Moisture often collects under the insoles so it's a good idea to take them out and dry them separately.

The Europa is a long way from the lifts (Hannig, the lift nearby only serves a sledging run) whereas the the Alpin is only 20m from the Alpin Express and if there's enough cover you can ski back to the door. Bear in mind that it can be extremely cold there in the early part of the season, north facing glacier, no sun.

The current annual quota (330 authorisations) beaks down as follows:
50%, 165 authorisations, are reserved for projects of cantonal interest, such as tourism residences, holiday residences in new hotel developments etc.; this aims to limit the number of "cold beds", i.e. holiday residences that remain unused for a large part of the year.
Of the remaining 50%, 99 authorisations are reserved for new properties and 66 are to be used to reduce the 1290 outstanding applications.
Property here usually decreases in value with age, hence the large discrepancy between old and new.

Bandit, that must have been a very persuasive email as by my reckoning you were towards the back of a queue of ~1290 applicants! Your calculation was indeed correct, under the revised regulations (as of 23rd November 2007) the outstanding applications are being processed at the rate of 66 per year, down from 310 plus a maximum of 165 unallocated permits obtained from other Cantons in previous years. As it's going take >19 years to process the outstanding applications (if all the applicants decide to wait that long) and as in the mean time no new permits for the sale of pre-owned property (owned by the Swiss) are going to be issued, it would seem that our "Dear Leader" has decided to stop the Swiss from selling their unwanted holiday homes to foreigners.