Sunday was a funereal day in Haute-Savoie.
Two people were killed while hiking near the Chorde corridor in the Alps.
On Monday, France Bleu also announced the death of a 23-year-old mountaineer on the Col de Miage (Alps).
A hecatomb that calls out.
Luc Thibal, national technical director of the FFCAM (French Federation of Alpine and Mountain Clubs), is unfortunately not surprised.
“We are in a particularly accident-prone period with terrain favorable to incidents,” he explains, while calling for people to be “particularly vigilant”.
This situation is due to several meteorological factors.
It has snowed little in the massifs in recent weeks and with temperatures characterized as "spring" in January, the snow "melts during the day and freezes at night, when temperatures are lower", explains Océane Vibert, director of La Chamoniarde, prevention and rescue society.
As a result, “the snow turns into ice”, which in places creates particularly hard and slippery mountain sections.
“Severe or even dramatic trauma”
These conditions more easily lead to “unscrewing”, or being dragged along a slippery slope in the event of a fall, sometimes for several tens of meters.
Victims may land violently on a rock, a tree, or in a vacuum.
“The resulting injuries can be extremely serious,” warns Océane Vibert.
The death of the two people on Sunday in Haute-Savoie is a priori due to unscrewing.
And emergency services intervened “around ten times during this busy weekend”, the Chamonix high mountain gendarmerie platoon (PGHM) told AFP.
Last week, the prefect of Haute-Savoie already called on skiers and hikers to exercise caution, stressing that “the last weekends have been particularly marked by a high number of skiing accidents, often accompanied by severe or even dramatic trauma. ".
#MountainPrevention 🗻 |
The prefect of Haute-Savoie calls on all mountain users to be extremely vigilant this weekend given the modest snowfall currently in the department ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/xk8Y1FwylF
— Prefect of Haute-Savoie (@Prefet74) February 2, 2024
The situation is not unique to Haute-Savoie.
Also in the Hautes-Alpes, in recent weeks, “there have been serious accidents, people who have slipped with serious consequences,” reports Didier Nicard, a high mountain guide in this department, to the Parisian.
Although this is not the first time that these snow conditions have been observed in the mountains, he notes that they remain exceptional for the season.
“This is due to a spring situation that we usually find in April or May,” explains the guide.
According to him, this could have disturbed mountain climbers.
“We don’t do summer hiking in winter”
These specialists warn those who venture into the mountains in these conditions, in particular hikers, snowshoes or skiers: they must choose paths that are not in the shade, find out in advance about routes and do not hesitate to contact local authorities for more information.
“It’s still winter in the mountains, equipment is necessary to safely travel many classic trails and thus avoid dramatic unscrewing,” the PGHM of Chamonix also warned on its social networks on Monday.
Mountain shoes, crampons, ice axes, ski knives and helmets are not superfluous.
Be careful.
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Océane Vibert warns those who would like to take hiking trails using maps or dedicated applications: “We don’t do summer hiking in winter.
» She also warns of the increase in hiking accidents in recent years.
“There is a real problem of knowledge with a certain public who only go mountaineering in the summer,” she laments.
However, the incidents do not necessarily concern inexperienced people, she specifies.
Luc Thibal recommends to those who find themselves faced with icy sections, even for a few meters, to turn around rather than risk a serious accident.
The situation should evolve in the coming days with the arrival of fresh snow at high altitude at the end of the week in the Alps and the Pyrenees, Météo France announced.
Snowfall could affect lower altitudes and other mountain ranges in the following days.