Stories from Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding
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Rowdy airbag save caught on film.
Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding &bull Yesterday
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, a one-minute video is worth nearly 250,000 views on Youtube. At an unsanctioned snowboard freeride contest in Colorado, competitor Meesh Hytner, was captured in a class 3 avalanche.… Full Story »
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Spain authorizes heliskiing
Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding &bull Jan 25, 2012
If you enjoy the peace, quiet and savage beauty of the mountains then the Val d'Aran is somewhere to cross off you list this winter. However if you like shreddin' the gnar and don't care too much how then Spain… Full Story »
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Topics:
- Mountains
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6 Deaths in a week in the French Pyrenees
Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding &bull Jan 18, 2012
The avalanche conditions may be some of the most stable we've known in a generation but that's not the only danger in the mountains in winter. As we mentioned in the snow conditions thread and as our friends at Kairn.com have reminded us the other… Full Story »
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Topics:
- Mountains
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Best Christmas snow of the century
Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding &bull Jan 1, 2012
The season may have started late in the French Northern Alps (the 7th of December to be exact) but Christmas looks like being the best since 1999 in terms of quality and quantity of snow. As we start the new year there are above average snow depths from the… Full Story »
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Topics:
- Mountains
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Piste patroller killed by avalanche charge
Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding &bull Dec 24, 2011
A 54 year old piste patroller has been killed in Klosters during avalanche control work. The patroller and his colleague had loaded an avalancheur with an 8.3cm rocket. The patroller was in the process of removing 2 safety devices when… Full Story »
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Topics:
- Mountains
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3 Months Suspended Sentence For Forgetting Beacon
Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding &bull Oct 10, 2011
An Austrian ski tourer has received a three month [suspended] prison sentence for a manslaughter. The case centered around a switched off avalanche beacon. According to the Salzburg court he was touring with his supposedly inexperienced wife with their beacons… Full Story »
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Topics:
- Mountains
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France blasted by Artic Storms
Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding &bull Jul 19, 2011
We've been hoping to get you some pics of the snow but the weather has been just too bad the last few days. More seriously the bodies of two climbers, one from Annecy and the other from Marseille, have been… Full Story »
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Topics:
- Mountains
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Mountain rescue, triumph and tragedy
Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding &bull Jun 12, 2011
The Isere section of the PGHM (Peloton de gendarmerie de haute montagne) celebrated its 50th anniversary this weekend with a remembrance service in the morning and a practical demonstration of the technical capabilities of this elite military mountain division in… Full Story »
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Topics:
- Mountains
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A tunnel for the Gouter couloir
Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding &bull Apr 22, 2011
Anyone who has climbed to the summit of Mont Blanc from St Gervais will know that crossing the Gouter couloir is a game of Russian roulette. You look up the couloir at the same time listening for stone fall. If… Full Story »
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Topics:
- Mountains
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Switzerland: thin snow pack triggers avalanche time bomb
Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding &bull Apr 20, 2011
In a press release issued on the 19th April 2011 the Swiss Snow and Avalanche Research Institute (SLF) highlighted how a winter marked by above average temperatures and a thin snow pack led to an explosive situation by early March… Full Story »
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Topics:
- Mountains
