UKH

See the link below to another story about avalanches. This was reported earlier this evening. Corriere della Sera ran it but the Telegraph has linked it to the number of accidents and claims so far this year.

I will try and ascertain route details on Monday.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/switzerland/11427211/Itali...

In reply to aostaman:

Sad news.

No early season snow, and then huge dumps in January no doubt contributing to that increased accident rate.

In reply to aostaman:

Very bad year this year, we were up there at Christmas but on the Swiss side, lots of terrain traps there.......

In reply to aostaman:
According to interviews on CH television it happened in the Combe des morts just below the hospice. The frightening thing about this is that the risk given was only 2.
http://www.rts.ch/info/regions/valais/6561733-trois-morts-et-deux-blesses-d... click on the third video down on the right.

In reply to jon:


Not really the thread to be discussing it on really but that i am afraid is exactly how people get caught out, 2 is still a risk.

Risk Level 2:

2 - Limited

On some steep slopes the snow is only moderately stable. Elsewhere it is very stable.

Avalanches may be triggered when heavy loads are applied, especially on a few generally identified steep slopes. Large spontaneous avalanches are not expected.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

But according to the link Jon posted, they were on a pisted route to the hospice, which (from memory) on the Swiss side doesn't cross any steep slopes (its a road in summer) - probably no more than a blue piste in descent.

In reply to Doug:
Agreed but it's not really what you are on, its what's above you that matters, it actually deviates from the road at the top and comes through a really tight spot with a hell of a lot of steep terrain above, from the descriptions it seems it was in that area.

Not my photo but this is the Combe des Morts.....

https://www.flickr.com/photos/geographyalltheway_photos/5587812667/

In reply to Doug:

Exactly my point, Doug. The hospice has always been a popular destintion for ski tourers and raquettistes and is indeed very straightforward, as you say broadly following the summer road. However, just before the hospice it enters the combe des morts which is a classic terrain trap with the big slopes of Mt Mort above. Here the road zig zags up right on the slope opposite Mt Mort but the ski route follows the bed of the valley - it's even marked by big poles. As Richlan says above risk 2 doesn't mean it's safe but normally a risk 2 wouldn't prevent most people from going up to the hospice.

In reply to jon:
and the bad news continues
http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2015/02/22/un-mort-et-deux-blesses-gr...

In reply to Doug:
Just coming back to this avalanche, large spontaneous avalanches are not expected at risk 2. That then poses the question of why it was so big.

Could it have been triggered by someone high up on Mt Mort?

Was it just a tragically one off slope that was heavily loaded (the guide interviewed suggests this) - maybe one that has resisted natural purges that other slopes have been subject to during the last few days/weeks?

Does it show that the Swiss interpretation of the risk scale is seriously underestimated? I've always noticed this - for instance when it's 4 in CH it's usually 5 in France.

It's possible to trigger a slope from below but in this case it does seem unlikely given that the upper and lower slopes are more or less separated from each other by a band of crags - see photo richlan posted (which by some strange coincidence seems to have been taken by one of Hilary's clients on a snowshoes trip with her a couple of years ago!)

In reply to jon:

Too hard to say without knowing where it came from, like I said a lot of snow up there above you, a cornice collapse or similar may have caused it.

But again, as you have pointed out, the avalanche waning states Large spontaneous avalanches are not expected. This doesn't mean it wont happen, there is still a risk at all levels which need to be assessed.