Two climbers die on Eiger

Two mountain climbers have frozen to death on the Eiger after being trapped by a storm.

The accident occurred last week, and is the first accident on the 3970m high mountain this year, which is regarded as one of Switzerland's most dangerous.

The 21 year old men were attempting to climb the peak's notorious north face, which is one of the most challenging in the Alps.

The two mountaineers, who have not yet been named, are thought to have frozen to death on a ridgeline leading back towards a mountain hut and the Jungfraujoch railway station, a popular tourist attraction.

Both climbers were from the Swiss army's mountain training centre based in Andermatt, and would have been experienced and well prepared. They are thought to have reached the summit before becoming trapped.

A rescue operation was attempted by a mountain rescue station in Grindelwald late on Monday night, but the weather deteriorated to a point where a helicopter rescue was impossible. "We just couldn't reach them," Marc Ziegler, head of the Grindelwald rescue station told Swiss news website, swissinfo.ch. "That is unusual but the conditions made it not possible.

The body of one man so far has been retrieved by rescue services.

One more time?

With fresh snow still falling in the Alps and the Easter holidays falling late this year, there's still plenty of late winter skiing to be had.

Easter is a flexible holiday, changing date every year regardless of the weather, and for many people it signals the end of the ski season. However there is often there is good snow still to be found at this time of year. Al Morgan, Information Manager at the Ski Club thinks this is definitely the year to make the most of the excellent snow conditions. "Skiing in March and April offers long days for skiing, sunny terraces for leisurely lunches and less people than the busy periods. Get out there if you can!”

April can produce some of the best conditions of the winter with good snowfalls, long days, uncrowded slopes and reduced prices. One of the most popular Ski Freshtracks holidays is the May Bank Holiday blast in Tignes that attracts a committed band of skiers, and they've still got loads of on and off-piste holidays, including ski touring, on offer between now and the first May Bank Holiday. Remember that the snow isn't necessarily like it is mid-winter. For the best conditions, aim for one of the high resorts, and lower slopes can get slushy by the end of the afternoon after a day in the spring sunshine so head out early.

Resorts open until 26th April include: Flaine, Les Arcs, Avoriaz, Meribel, La Thuile, Bormio, Davos, Wengen, Zermatt, St Anton and Lech.

Resorts open until 3rd May include: Val d’Isère, Val Thorens, Are, Pas de la Casa, Soldeu, Ischgl, Obertauern, Obergurgl, Solden, Andermatt, St Moritz, Cervinia and Hemsedal.

Natasha Richardson dies after ski accident

The 45 year old British actress has died in hospital after suffering a head injury in a skiing accident in Mont Tremblant, Canada.

The actress fell and hit her head during a supervised ski lesson on a nursery slope. She was not wearing a helmet at the time. She initially appeared coherent but an hour later complained of a headache. As her condition worsened, she was flown to a hospital near her home in New York City, where her family gathered.

Neeson’s publicist announced her death. “Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha,” he said. “They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”

Part of one of Britain's great theatrical dynasties, Richardson was the daughter of Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, 72, and the late director Tony Richardson.
She was also the granddaughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, the sister of actress Joely Richardson and the niece of Lynn Redgrave.

Actress in hospital after skiing accident

Actress Natasha Richardson has been left in a critical condition after a skiing accident in Canada, according to media reports.

The Canadian Press reported that the 45 year old British actress suffered a head injury yesterday whilst skiing in Mont Tremblant resort near Montreal.
She is thought to have first been brought to Centre Hospitalier Laurentien near Mont Tremblant, and then transferred to Montreal's Sacre Coeur hospital.

Richardson, 45, is the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and is married to actor Liam Neeson with whom she has two sons. Neeson was reportedly in Toronto at the time of Richardson's accident filming the movie 'Chloe' with Julianne Moore, and has now left Toronto to be at his wife's side.

Met police officer dies in ski plunge as wife looks on

A Metropolitan police officer died in front of his wife on a skiing holiday in France.

Michael Probert, 43, lost control as he skied down a slope in Alpe d'Huez, and fell into a 10ft ditch, hitting his head. His wife Emma, a Scotland Yard Royal Protection sergeant who was praised for her work on the day of the 7/7 bombings, was watching as the tragedy unfolded. Mr Probert, a pursuit driver based in Harrow, was declared dead at the scene on Saturday. He was with his wife and friends skiing within sight of the village of Villard-Reculas, part of the vast Alpe d'Huez resort, where they had just begun a week's holiday.

Mr Probert was an inexperienced skier, and was on low slopes considered safe for beginners and intermediates. The group had just finished lunch when they began descending a low gradient blue run - the third hardest after black and red - with few obstacles. But as he approached the ditch he lost control and fell into it, said emergency workers who attended the scene by motorised sledge. They arrived in minutes, but Mr Probert had suffered a heart attack and could not be revived even though his injuries appeared slight. A spokesman for the French high mountain police said: "The emergency services reached the victim extremely quickly but could not save him. Cause of death was a heart attack caused by the shock of the fall.

"The victim has been out skiing with his family and friends, some of whom witnessed the accident." Mrs Probert was praised for her work following the 7 July terrorist attacks when she was a sergeant in Camden. She was among the first officers on the scene in Tavistock Square where suicide bomber Hasib Hussain killed 13 when he exploded his rucksack bomb on a bus. Neighbours of the couple in StAlbans said they last saw Mr Probert on Friday evening when he was looking forward to the coming week.One neighbour said: "He was a lovely man and so friendly. I think he believed in working hard and playing hard and that's why they loved their skiing holidays and, when they could, they would take their boat to go waterskiing."

In Alpe d'Huez, the slopes were crowded with weekend skiers and snowboarders enjoying unseasonably warm weather. Conditions in the resort were good with bright sunshine and excellent visibility. A spokesman for the local tourist office said: "Serious accidents, especially fatalities, usually take place off piste where conditions can be extremely dangerous." It is unusual to have a fatality on low pistes because they are usually extremely safe."

Ryanair check-in to go online by October

Skiers may soon have to think twice about taking a large suitcase on a Ryanair flight, after it was announced this week check-in desks will be scrapped and baggage fees increased.

Ryanair first announced plans to abolish check-in desks last month, saying most of its customers already check in online, and they will be able to use baggage drop desks for their luggage if needed.

Desks will be phased out and check-in fees will increase in the meantime. From 19 March the fee to check-in luggage at airport desks will double to £20 per passenger per flight. Passengers who book their tickets by 1 May will still be allowed to check in at the airport, but by 1 October, there will be no check-in desks at any of its airports and passengers will only be able to check in online.

Michael O’Leary, Chief Executive of the Irish airline, told The Daily Telegraph, “All we will have is a bag drop where passengers can drop off their luggage, otherwise everything will be done online. Ultimately, we want just one in five people to check in luggage.”

Ryanair is already known for its 'no-frills' policy, with passengers being charged for extras ranging from cups of tea to using a credit card to pay for their ticket. O'Leary also recently told the press he is thinking about installing credit card-operated toilets on airplanes and charging passengers to use them.

Skiers injured in chairlift fall

A structural failure on a chairlift in Spain’s Sierra Nevada resulted in 23 skiers being injured in the resort on Monday.

Six of the chairs chairs dropped approximately six metres to the ground and injuring 23 people after the top section of the tower gave way on one side.
Two skiers were taken to hospital with minor chest injuries and at least 21 suffered cuts and bruises and were treated for shock after falling from heights of up to 26 feet. At least another 35 people had to be rescued from chairs on the lift after it ground to a halt in the resort which is situated in the mountains above Granada. Most of the guests on the lift were ski instructors with their clients, and the Sierra Nevada Ski Patrol, Guardia Civil, Local Police and the Emergency Department immediately implemented an emergency lift evacuation procedure.

Recent snowfall had served to cushion the blow and saved many from serious injury. "Fresh snow beneath the lift no doubt cushioned the fall," said Mariano Gutierrez, a spokesman from the Sierra Nevada National Park. The chairlift is built by Doppelmayr and was installed in late 80’s. A world-leader in lift design and manufacturing, Doppelmayr lifts are in operation throughout the world and have a good safety record. The regional government of Andalucia, Guardia Civil, Doppelmayr and Cetursa, the company that manages the ski resort, have opened an investigation into the incident.

Getting heavy in Heavenly

The Californian resorts in the Tahoe area have been battered this week by the biggest winter storm this season, which has brought huge amounts of snow and some high winds.

In Heavenly and Squaw Valley, they received a colossal 200cm of snow on Sunday night when the storm began. 91cm alone fell on Tuesday night at Heavenly and that was on top of the 85cm that fell the previous night! It continued to snow all day Wednesday but the skies have cleared to reveal a landscape covered in nearly eight feet of new snow. Despite this they are only reporting four lifts closed, so the powder hounds should be out in force this weekend.

In California, Mammoth has also been getting dumped on, with their most recent reported snowfall being 61cm on Tuesday night. It has supposed to continue snowing all through Wednesday and Wednesday night and their upper base of nearly five metres is way above average for the time of year. This season so far is one of their best in a long time, with over ten metres of snow having fallen so far.

German politician found guilty over ski accident

The German politician who was charged earlier this week with manslaughter over a collision on an Austrian ski slope in January, has been found guilty.

The politician, who was involved in a fatal collision with a fellow skier at the intersection of two runs in Austria, was convicted on Tuesday of involuntary manslaughter. Dieter Althaus, who is a German state governor, could not attend Tuesday's trial because he is still recovering from head injuries sustained in the collision which took place at the Riesneralm ski area in Austria.

Prosecutors said Althaus has told them that he has no memory of the accident but takes responsibility for the 41-year-old woman's death. The court fined him 33,000 Euros and ordered him to pay another 5,000 Euros to the victim's husband. The Slovakian woman who had 4 children, died from head injuries as a result of the crash. She was not wearing a helmet, whilst the politician was, which has led to a re-opening of the debate over whether to make helmet wearing compulsory.

Following the incident, a new law requiring all children age 15 and under to wear a helmet on the slopes will be rolled out across 23 small ski resorts in lower Austria from 20 March.

Twitter and iPhone help find lost skier

A missing skier in the Swiss Alps has been rescued with the help of Twitter and an iPhone, but a snowboarder was found dead after the two were separated from the rest of their group on holiday in Verbier.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that the man who died was entrepreneur Rob Williams, 29, who went missing on Monday. Entrepreneur Rob, from Liverpool, was discovered in a stream at the foot of a cliff. He is thought to have fallen more than 60ft after getting lost near the resort. He was on holiday with a group of internet entrepreneurs including Michelle Dewberry, a former winner of the second series of The Apprentice.

Williams, and Jason Tavaria who was also 29, got into difficulty after becoming separated from fellow snowboarders in the resort. Tavaria survived and was found after Michelle Dewberry launched an online rescue on Twitter where she reportedly wrote, "2 of our ski party been missing since 4pm. Conditions terrible. 1 guy found but trapped. 20 man team searching for other." A helicopter search was not possible due to the bad weather conditions, but a GPS signal from Tavaria’s iPhone was used to guide in the rescue services. The rescue attempt continued to unfold on Twitter as details of the whereabouts of the two men were relayed back and forth. The search sadly ended with the discovery of the body of Rob Williams but Jason Tavaria was found unharmed about 6 hours later.

Winter returns to the Alps

Looks like it's not spring just yet. The recent warm and sunny weather in Europe is expected to come to an abrupt end this week, as another winter storm is expected to hit France, Switzerland and Italy bringing lots of snow and much colder weather with it.

In France, Argentiere is expected to receive the most snow of the French resorts in the next five days. 60cm of snow is forecast to fall on the upper slopes and the temperatures will probably be fairly mild in the first half of the week with freezing levels around 1500m, so rain could fall on the lower slopes and in the towns. However on Thursday the snow is expected to start falling even harder and the temperature should drop, meaning fresh snow to all levels.

The same is true for Switzerland during the coming week. The resorts are forecast slightly more snow than France, with Verbier expecting 68cm of snow this week, and 50cm of this should fall on Wednesday and Thursday alone! The same heavy snow is forecast in Zermatt with 31cm of snow expected to fall on Wednesday followed by a further 20cm on Thursday. The combined five day total is a whopping 66cm!

And whilst the rest of Europe is catching up with the two weeks of snow that Austria has been enjoying, some Austrian resorts are still staying ahead with more snow of their own to come. Zell am Zille is also expecting lots of snow, with 48cm expected to fall in the next five days. As with France and Switzerland, this could fall as rain on the lower slopes in the first half of the week but significantly colder weather is expected by Thursday. And in Obergurgl, the snow was still falling on Monday and neighbouring Solden also received 5cm of fresh snow. So Austria is still ahead of the game!

British tourists killed in ravine fall

Two British tourists have died after falling down a ravine in Les Deux Alpes following a night out with friends.

Richard Ryan, 27, and Christopher Lockwood, 28, fell while returning home after a night out in the ski resort. The pair were both from Leeds and were last seen by friends leaving a popular British-style pub to return to their chalet at about 2am last Thursday. The two men were "probably very drunk" when they fell into the Combe Noir ravine, police in the resort have said. A Deux Alpes police spokesman added, "Their friends alerted us that they were missing in the early hours of Thursday. Interviews with friends also revealed both men had drunk large quantities of beer that evening. The spot where they fell is very steep and, although unprotected, there are signs everywhere." The two were among a party of eight British skiers who were due to fly back to Britain at the weekend. Their families have been informed by the Foreign Office.