Ski accidents between users happen on blue slopes very often, here’s why – The HuffPost

Dmitry Feoktistov via Getty Images

MONTAGNE – The dramatic death at the age of 37 of the actor Gaspard ulliel, this Wednesday, January 19, after a skiing accident in Savoie, sheds light on the conditions of a sporting practice which attracts an average of some 7 million enthusiasts to France each year.

The great hope of 7th art died after colliding with another skier while they were both on a blue run in the Rosière ski area. If fatal collisions between skiers or snowboarders remain rare as The HuffPost explained it here, on the other hand, they very often take place on blue runs. This is what the National Mountain Safety Observation System (SNOSM) has noted in several reports and analyzes published in recent years. The green runs come in second place. It is estimated that between 2011 and 2021, 67% of collisions took place on blue runs, compared to 21% for red runs.

SNOSM

If these slopes are more represented, it is already because mathematically they are more numerous in the ski areas of France, and therefore more surveyed. Above all, they represent places of passage very borrowed in particular to join the town centers of the stations. What to produce a funnel effect at midday and at the end of the day.

High speed and danger

“You can have beginner skiers who will rather use the middle of the piste without necessarily having great control of their trajectory, and other more experienced ones who will seek the straight line and the speed on the edges. But sometimes these trajectories intersect, and this can be dramatic, especially when there is strong kinetics”, explains Ludovic Richard, head of SNOM, at HuffPost.

A few days before the death of Gaspard Ulliel, it was a 5-year-old British girl who died in the resort of Flaine, in Haute-Savoie, there also on a blue run. A high-speed skier rammed her while she was taking part in a ski lesson. Despite his attempts to resuscitate her, the little girl died in the helicopter which took her to the CHU. The man has been charged.

In addition to the human factor, specifies Ludovic Richard, there is also that of the quality of the snow. In good weather and light falls, it can become particularly compact and hard, making it all the more difficult to control its trajectory and speed. Including on a blue run. “Gliding on hard snow is the most unfavorable configuration. The injuries caused by these high-kinetic accidents strongly mobilize the emergency services in times of high traffic”, further notes the SNOSM.

Finally, in addition to collisions between users, easy and gently sloping tracks often generate the heaviest falls, because in these cases, “the trajectory of the falling body is close to the perpendicular to the sliding plane”. Currently, 93% of injuries recorded on the slopes are caused by a solo fall.

See also on The HuffPost: Seven cult roles in Gaspard Ulliel’s career