Deadly Ski Touring | Chamonix Piste Bashers Have Had Enough

After multiple accidents and countless near misses plus the death of a cross country skier recently, the Chamonix piste bashers have had enough.

Most of the pisted areas in Chamonix are off limits to the public after closing time, unfortunately some don’t listen which can turn out to be a deadly mistake…

Recently a piste basher reversed over a lady in the Haute Savoie whilst the area was officially closed. Sadly the lady passed away later that day.

This has forced many ski resorts to toughen up their rules about night time skiing, especially Chamonix where most people own a pair of skins. There is already a few ski touring tracks in Chamonix that are primarily used just to ski tour, alas there are still countless amounts of people heading into the hills at night unaware of the potential danger ahead.

The danger is not completely the basher itself, because of Chamonix’s steep terrain many piste bashers need to set up a cable winch which can be stretched over hundreds of meters. This cable is silent and invisible plus under thousands of pounds of pressure.

For those who still wish to go up into the hills at night GOOD NEWS there will not be a blanket ban on all night time skiing, the Pisteurs are creating plans & timetables for each ski resort to give skiers a “safe zone”. This will increase the work load for the piste bashers who already have a tough job navigating the high mountains at night.

If caught skiing in a restricted zone at night outside of the proposed timetable there will be much heavier consequences. hopefully this agreement will work for every one in the mountains.

Enjoy The Snow & Stay Safe.