Off Piste Skiing Grimentz video
Eagle ski club Off piste week Grimentz
18 of us assembled in the Hotel du Moiry in Grimentz for an Eagle ski club off piste week. There were 16 clients myself and Tom Saxland the director of New Generation ski school in Courchevel. The idea was for the group to split it's time between off piste guiding with myself and ski coaching with Tom. A lot of fresh snow had fallen on a W – SW wind in the previous few days, as Sunday our first ski day dawned clear we could see a lot of blasted avalanche activity on Easterly slopes. We spent the first day skiing off the lifts enjoying some great off piste skiing splitting the day between the two groups. We followed the same format for the second day this time skiing the great to descent to St Jean in the morning and afternoon. On Tuesday we used the excellent bus service to ski in Zinal we had a great fresh tracks descent to the Lac du Moiry then back to Grimentz for lunch then had a different off piste descent to Grimentz in the afternoon.
We planned a tour on Wednesday skiing from the top of the lift system while skinning I triggered an avalanche which partially buried myself and 2 members of the group and left one member with his arm sticking out. The remaining members of the team quickly sorted the situation and got everyone on the surface. Luckily no one was injured. I have included a full report below. We skiied out to the ski area of Vercorin where we got a Taxi back to Grimentz. On Thursday we toured in a similar area skiing to Vercorin then skinning and climbing for an hour and twenty minutes over a little summit before skiing to St Jean where we got the bus back to Grimentz. The final day I was skiing with the team who were avalanched we had a great day skiing from the lifts finding fresh untracked snow right up to the final run.
Please have a look at the video.
Who Says Eagles Can't Ski from Bruce Goodlad on Vimeo.
Avalanche Report
In the case of any serious mountain incident involving a British Mountain Guides member it is mandatory to submit an accident report form if anyone is injured. Although no one was injured on this occasion I felt the incident was serious enough to want to submit a report. This is then investigated by the Professional Standards Committee who will look at the incident for lessons to be learnt and to see if any issues need to be taken up with the guide in question.
I thought it would be useful to publish an extract from the report and the lessons learnt so that we may all benefit from the incident.
Avalanche Accident Grimentz 28/01/09 Guide Bruce Goodlad
Map Montana Swiss ski touring map 273S
The avalanche happened on the 4th day of an off piste ski course with the Eagle Ski Club based from the Hotel du Moiry in Grimentz.The format for the week was 16 clients 8 of who would ski with Bruce Goodlad the other 8 would ski with Ski Instructor Tom Saxland, the plan was to swap the groups through the week to give a mix of guiding and ski coaching. During the previous days we had skied all over the Grimentz and Zinal ski areas skiing on most slope aspects and angles so Bruce felt he had a good feeling for the snow pack.
On 28th the party set off from the top T bar in the Grimentz lift system below the Bec du Bosson. We skinned over Col 2932 (60631134). We skied west on good snow to a flat area (60531137) from here we skinned to spot height 2659. We skied down a broad couloir in a NW direction the angle was about 30 degrees at the top easing to 20 degrees lower down, we then traversed northerly to a flat area (60541155). While skinning NE at approx grid reference 60601157 an avalanche occurred. Prior to the avalanche the group had observed a settling in the snow pack on a flat area, we dug a pit and found 2 layers of depth hoar one close to the ground and another in the pack.
At the time of the avalanche Bruce Goodlad was breaking trail with the rest of the party following, the party was not spread out as this was not felt necessary given the terrain skied earlier in the day was at a similar aspect and steeper. While traversing a slope of between 25and 30 degrees Bruce felt a settling in the snow pack which then began to move; initially Bruce thought that the avalanche was not that big but the initial slide released a significant amount of snow higher up the slope. Alun Ward and Rowan Gundry observed that the slope cracked a significant distance above where Bruce triggered the slide. The accident happened at approx 1400.
Alun Ward, Rowan Gundry and to a lesser extent Jan Nowell were also caught in the avalanche. Bruce was carried down and skiers right into the middle of the avalanche. As he slid he shouted to those on the surface to watch those who had been caught. The slide moved very slowly. Alan was carried down the skiers left of the avalanche and was then deflected into the main body of the debris by a boulder. Rowan was carried down the skiers left of the slide as was Jan. When the avalanche came to a halt Bruce was sat in the snow facing up hill with his skis still attached buried to the top of his thighs. Alun had been carried the furthest and was buried; he had one arm sticking out and his head was under the snow. Rowan was partially buried, Jan had been carried a short distance towards the edge of the debris with her feet buried which she freed easily. All victims were facing up hill.
Bruce dug himself out then went to assist in the recovery of Alun. Dick Allen skied into the debris then walked down to Alun and quickly cleared his face and began to dig him out. The rest of the team quickly dug Rowan out. All the victims still had there skis on 2 poles were missing but these were both recovered.
Alan suffered an irritated throat, no other injuries occurred. No equipment was lost. The party contained three doctors (David and Rowan Gundry and Tom Barrett) who did not feel that any treatment was required at this stage. After regrouping eating and drinking the party skied then skinned to the ski area of Vercorin, on the ski out Jan Nowell fell and twisted a knee, Bruce strapped this and Jan self administered Ibuprofen. When the party reached the ski area they met a ski patroller who arranged for Jan and Alun to ride down in the last lift to the village, the rest of the party skied down to the village where a taxi took us back to Grimentz