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French Question Off-Piste Ventures After Lethal Year

By J.D. O'Connor
May 29, 2006

Jean-Francois Lamour, the country's sports minister, has described the toll as "unacceptable," though exactly how the government or ski areas would restrict access to areas desirable to extreme skiers has not been stated. A safety campaign has been initiated in the interim.

"Many people may be good skiers or good snowboarders, but they often lack sufficient mountain knowledge," Lamour said last month. "Make a U-turn or change your route if conditions dictate, or stay on open ski runs."

But an open ski run is like a Los Angeles freeway at full commute to an accomplished extreme skier looking for off piste freshies.

Although Lamour didn't mention them by name, it is almost certain he was driven to re-think France's policy on off piste skiing by the deaths of Americans Doug Coombs and Coombs' friend and protege/partner Chad VanderHam. The pair were killed while skiing Polichinelle couloir in La Grave last month.

Many in France have blamed this year's high death toll on the obvious passion for off piste skiing shown by Scandanavian, British, and American ski tourists who travel far and wide in search of it. Statistics from the French Ministry of Sport revealed that between 2 million and 3 million of the 7.5 million skiers visiting the French Alps this season are estimated to have gone off piste.

Shortly before his death on Polichinelle Coombs wrote of his passion for the area on his Web site: "I am still discovering new descents off the peak, governed only by nature's laws which must be learnt and respected. There isn't any trail grooming, avalanche control, ski school or ski patrol. Just a lift to access the mountain."

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Sorry, but I am pretty sure Lamour wasn't driven to re-think the issue because of the Americans Doug Coombs and Chad VanderHam. It's merely the number of people who die in the French alps every winter while venturing off-piste. There are and there have been many accomplished skiers who ski the extreme without desiring being in the magazines or the news. They do it just for their own excitement and to feel alive in the environment. The problems increased since we have to look at an endless array of magazines, extreme movies, extreme games, extreme guys and and and, all of which is fueled by an 'extremely' powerful industry which understands how to catch those youngster and make them buy some 'extreme' twin tip skies with some extreme back pack, shovel and hit the steeps with 'extremely' little knowledge about mountains and snow at all! I believe that it is 'extremely' irresponsible to make the mountains look like the backyard playground. The industry is the body which should start to 're-think'! Thomas Weller

Posted by: Thomas Weller skithomas | June 5, 2006 05:36 AM

	I don't know. I was in France when Doug and Chad were killed and the publicity was pretty hot by French standards. Your point is well taken but I also believe the deaths on Polichinelle heightened awareness of off piste ski fatalities in France.
	Posted by: Marty Sandler | June 7, 2006 09:22 AM