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British Skier Falls 5,000ft to Death in French Alps
ibtimes ^ | May 19, 2013 6:07 PM GMT | Timur Moon

Posted on 05/20/2013 7:07:05 AM PDT by BenLurkin

The man, who has yet to be named, fell to his death on the Mont Blanc range after being stranded on a glacial ridge close to the Aiguille du Midi mountain.

He had been out with another skier when they were caught in a storm as they descended the challenging Vallee Blanche, 12,460ft (3,800 metres) above the resort of Chamonix.

The two were left trapped on the peak when their cable car broke down, and with bad weather closing in, high winds and blizzards forced them to abandon their intended descent.

The man's companion managed to get to the lift station, guided by a member of staff, but the second lost his footing and fell 1,500 metres down the north face of the cliff at around 9pm.

(Excerpt) Read more at ibtimes.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Outdoors
KEYWORDS: 5000feet; alps; skier
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To: ken5050

***It’s only the last 100 feet that kills you..***

Actually it is not the fall that kills you. It is that sudden stop.


21 posted on 05/20/2013 7:50:05 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (When someone burns a cross on your lawn, the best firehose is an AK-47.)
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To: Sherman Logan

****Quite probably he bounced much of the way.****

****TILT!****


22 posted on 05/20/2013 7:51:53 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (When someone burns a cross on your lawn, the best firehose is an AK-47.)
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To: BenLurkin
The man, who has yet to be named, fell to his death

Irresponsible parenting.

23 posted on 05/20/2013 7:54:38 AM PDT by eartrumpet
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To: eartrumpet
The man, who has yet to be named, fell to his death Irresponsible parenting.

LOL!

24 posted on 05/20/2013 7:55:26 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: BenLurkin

So the way I understand it, the men abandoned a cable car, their one source of shelter on the mountain, to go try their luck in a storm with 5000 ft cliffs nearby....


25 posted on 05/20/2013 7:55:30 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: eartrumpet
Lol. I see what you did there.

How sad for him, his family, and friends. Mother nature is relentless.

26 posted on 05/20/2013 8:14:14 AM PDT by convocation
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To: wbill
Earlier in the week, a British climber survived a 700-metre drop, escaping with bruises after being hit by an avalanche on the nearby Aiguille de Bionnassay, on the Italian side of the border.

He was said to have survived by "swimming" through snow and ice as it collapsed down the face of one of Mont Blanc's highest peaks.

27 posted on 05/20/2013 8:15:59 AM PDT by heartwood
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To: BenLurkin

I’ve been skiing in that area and stayed in Chamonix (Aspen Village will remnind you of the village of Chamonix). And with the opening of the Mont Blanc tunnel it is easily accessible from Geneva, Switzerland (about an hours drive).


28 posted on 05/20/2013 9:37:07 AM PDT by Hotlanta Mike ("Governing a great natiorn is like cooking a small fish - too much handling will spoil it." Lao Tzu)
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To: BenLurkin

Yikes. RIP.


29 posted on 05/20/2013 9:37:13 AM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Resist We Much)
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To: All
Isn't it rather late for skiing in the Alps?

I seem to remember that in the 60’s Swiss skiing was iffy when Easter fell late in the year.

You would think with all of the globull warming going on that he would be hiking, not skiing this time of year. /S

30 posted on 05/20/2013 10:35:09 AM PDT by az_gila
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To: a fool in paradise

o/~ I believe I can fly... o/~


31 posted on 05/20/2013 10:35:37 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows (You can't have IngSoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: a fool in paradise

“5,000 feet. Is that some kind of a record?”

No, but it’s better than average. [rimshot]


32 posted on 05/20/2013 4:39:48 PM PDT by PLMerite (Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
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