The temptation to ski off-piste is great when the powder is fresh, but skiers, hikers and mountain-lovers should know how to use avalanche victim rescue equipments. Leysin, in canton Vaud, has a popular Avalanche Training Center at the top of the Aï chairlift. Eight markers that are hidden in the snow play avalanche victims and have to be located with the help of the appropriate search and rescue equipment. The Center is open to everyone and is free of charge. It offers a free course for children and young people on the dangers avalanches present.
SION, SWITZERLAND – The sun struggled to come out early Saturday morning in the Swiss Alps, and instead left a show of frosted trees and mountainsides while temperatures fell to -20 and lower above 2,000 metres. By 11:00 a light snow was still falling and the sun was out, creating spectacular scenery.
Swiss Alps, canton Valais, 4 February 2011
The path less taken, in this case through Valais pastures, is the one off-piste skiers love
Webcam from Crans-Montana at 11:35 Saturday: clearing skies, spectacular scenery and great snow conditions
Photo, Aminona in Valais at dawn 15 February 2009, with off-piste ski tracks visible (click on image to enlarge)
Lake Geneva region (GenevaLunch) – Schools in canton Geneva are back in class Monday after a weeklong break, and canton Vaud begins its school holidays. The following week it is the turn of canton Valais. Swiss cantons stagger their vacations to spread out visitors to winter resorts.
Avalanche near Nendaz; click image to view larger. Photo: VS police
Valais, Switzerland and France (GenevaLunch) - The weekend was a deadly one in the Swiss and French Alps, with two people dying in separate avalanches and a third person in critical condition, all of them skiing off-piste despite high avalanche warnings.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss hunting laws will be revised by the federal department for the environment because of significant changes in the past 20 years to the wildlife population and the growth of popular sports, which have an impact on wildlife habitats.
