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Should deaths and injuries in the mountains be reported?
Thursday March 5, 2009 - Email this article to a friend
This week it’s a pertinent question as there have been so many incidents. Some people think bad news should be hushed up.
“Blimey, the site has more deaths on it than a suicide bomb,” was one of the comments we have received here at PlanetSKI.
This week we have seen 2 British people fall over a cliff in Les Deux Alps, a snowboarder die in Verbier and a senior German politician found guilty of manslaughter after he collided with a woman and killed her. A chairlift has collapsed in Spain and there have been avalanche deaths in Austria with the danger level at 5, the highest on the scale, after up to 2 metres of snow fell in some places.
There have been numerous other incidents that we know about, but haven't reported, and we have found out that 29 people have died in Austria alone this winter in snow related accidents.
Getting accurate information is always difficult as resorts do not publicise the incidents as it is seen to be bad PR for the resort and the sport.
Many ski journalists prefer to go on organised press trips and write glowing pieces about how wonderful everything is. We love writing about all the good things going on in the ski world, but feel we should also report on the accidents and safety issues.
We have good contacts in mountain rescue organisations and avalanche information services but still do not find out about all of them.
So, are the deaths news and should we report on them?
Well, our answer here at PlanetSKI is a resounding yes.
The mountains are dangerous places and skiing and snowboarding is inherently dangerous so we think people should be informed about the accidents so they realise the risks involved and adapt their behaviour accordingly.
In the Verbier accident this week our content editor spoke directly to a friend of the group involved and who should have been with them on that fateful day out.
“I think it is very important that people realise the mountains are not playgrounds and that large numbers of people get injured or die,” Xavier Adam told us. “If the publicity of Rob’s tragic death prevents any more than that is a very good thing.”
There has been a sharp rise in the number of people wearing helmets, in part due to all the stories this winter of collisions and accidents on the piste. It is difficult to quantify how many accidents have been prevented or injuries lessened but overall it seems a good development.
We certainly don't want to cover our news pages with stories of doom and gloom all the time but sadly deaths happen and we will continue to report them if we think they are relevant.
Ski safely.
So do you want to hear about the bad things that happen in the mountains or would you prefer good news only?PlanetSKI reserves the right to edit any comments. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below.
Good news can be so dull! Actually its useful to point out to my kids that people do stupid things when they're skiing/boarding. I hope that by pointing out some (not necessarily all) of the accidents and silliness that they may respect the unpredictability of the mountains and take care. Keep it up the website is great.
Susie, Central London
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