kong
03-06-2012, 02:32 AM
Massive Avalanche Takes Out French Ski Lift -- With Skiers On It
No one was reported hurt, so you can relax and watch these crazy videos of a ginormous, late-afternoon, wet avalanche at St. Francois-Longchamps, France, in the Savoie, destroying a quad chairlift. Some 70 people were on the lift and, incredibly, not one was injured and all were evacuated within two and a half hours. "There was the risk of another avalanche, so we wanted to avoid bringing the people down on the ground to stop them from being swept away by another avalanche," Captain Cyril Anceau, CRS Alps commander, told the French broadcaster M6. This is the second major lift evac in France in one month. In mid-February, a gondola broke down at Alpe d'Huez and 60 passengers were rappelled 200 feet to rescue. This winter has seen unusually high-profile avalanches throughout Europe and North America. Just last month, three ski industry professionals died in a backcountry slide adjacent to Stevens Pass, Washington; in the United States, 24 people have died in accidents this season, 10 in the last three weeks alone. One of the reasons is because snowfall in the States has been spotty and often below average, and the combination early season snow and long stretches of clear weather followed by sudden large storms has created unstable conditions. Backcountry skiing and snowboarding have also exploded in popularity, especially by people using ski area lifts to get access to it, and more people are pushing the edge of the envelope. There's a chance that climate change could be playing a role, too. An avalanche researcher at the University of Nottingham in the U.K. says that larger, more rapid swings in air temperature are responsible for bigger, more frequent slides -- the exact conditions that triggered the avalanche in France.
Below is news story from France with incredible shots of the aftermath.
https://rapidshare.com/files/3995679713/Massive_Avalanche_Takes_Out_French_Ski_Lift_--_With_Skiers_On_It_2_.flv
Story by Steve Casimiro via the Adventure Journal
No one was reported hurt, so you can relax and watch these crazy videos of a ginormous, late-afternoon, wet avalanche at St. Francois-Longchamps, France, in the Savoie, destroying a quad chairlift. Some 70 people were on the lift and, incredibly, not one was injured and all were evacuated within two and a half hours. "There was the risk of another avalanche, so we wanted to avoid bringing the people down on the ground to stop them from being swept away by another avalanche," Captain Cyril Anceau, CRS Alps commander, told the French broadcaster M6. This is the second major lift evac in France in one month. In mid-February, a gondola broke down at Alpe d'Huez and 60 passengers were rappelled 200 feet to rescue. This winter has seen unusually high-profile avalanches throughout Europe and North America. Just last month, three ski industry professionals died in a backcountry slide adjacent to Stevens Pass, Washington; in the United States, 24 people have died in accidents this season, 10 in the last three weeks alone. One of the reasons is because snowfall in the States has been spotty and often below average, and the combination early season snow and long stretches of clear weather followed by sudden large storms has created unstable conditions. Backcountry skiing and snowboarding have also exploded in popularity, especially by people using ski area lifts to get access to it, and more people are pushing the edge of the envelope. There's a chance that climate change could be playing a role, too. An avalanche researcher at the University of Nottingham in the U.K. says that larger, more rapid swings in air temperature are responsible for bigger, more frequent slides -- the exact conditions that triggered the avalanche in France.
Below is news story from France with incredible shots of the aftermath.
https://rapidshare.com/files/3995679713/Massive_Avalanche_Takes_Out_French_Ski_Lift_--_With_Skiers_On_It_2_.flv
Story by Steve Casimiro via the Adventure Journal