By Jean Hennelly Keith
Each year, grim headlines tell of skiers and other winter sports enthusiasts who venture off-trail in high mountains and are swept up in avalanches. Victims or someone in their group or in a group skiing above them trigger over 90 percent of avalanche accidents, and nearly 20 percent of those caught in avalanches die, amounting to more than 150 fatalities annually worldwide and that number is rising.
The Alps top the list for these fatalities. Unlike the ski areas in the western United States, where avalanche risk is managed by blasting the entire area to release unstable snow slabs, in Europe blasting occurs only on the slopes above the “pistes” (ski runs) to protect them. Based in the world-class French Alpine ski resort Val d’Isère, Henry (Hank) Schniewind (CGS’86, CAS’89) is an avalanche and snow expert and “off-piste” (off-trail) guide who knows what it takes to ski safely on the steep, snowy slopes in avalanche territory.