Ski Resort Security : Behind the Scenes on the Piste

Skis rack Travel to France by ferry and some of the best self drive skiing in the world. Enjoy the freedom of taking unlimited baggage and up to 9 people per car via .
Book your journey with P&O Ferries

Find a hotel

Booking a hotel has never been easier with accorhotels.com, Europe's largest hotel group.

Why pay for your skis?

Book tickets to Grenoble and take Monarch Flights to this undiscovered destination from Leeds Bradford, Manchester, Birmingham and London Gatwick. There are plenty of cheap flights available to help you get the most out of any holiday to Grenoble, whatever season you travel in.

Experience complete comfort on SWISS flights to Geneva and enjoy the added bonus of taking your skis at no extra cost.

Pick up and ski this winter

Forget about queuing for a bus at the airport, low cost car hire - with a ski rack if necessary, will get you to where you want to go with a minimum of fuss. Click below to take advantage of special offers.

All about the pisteurs who keep things secure for skiers.

patrol closing a piste
Above: Closing a piste considered unsafe after overnight blizzards.

Asafe and enjoyable skiing experience still relies on the human touch, as I discovered in the amiable company of the pisteurs of the Grand Massif ski domaine in Haute-Savoie. While you’re still barely awake teams of accomplished skiers are out on their daily tours of inspection, checking every piste, replacing any safety nets or signage displaced by the previous night’s gales and blizzards, and checking for any other hazards. Their job is to find (and rectify) them before you do.

Avalanche control...

Often barely-visible, yet potentially the most lethal, are zones at risk from avalanches. Recognising problems hidden beneath fresh overnight accumulations requires skill and nerve, as does triggering controlled avalanches safely out of harm’s way before the real thing can occur. Habitual danger points are often equipped with remotely triggered gas-fuelled Gazex ® cannon, but elsewhere it’s still a case of laying explosive charges.
Apart from quarrymen and military personnel, the specially trained avalanche control teams are the only people licensed by law to handle explosives. Unlike their counterparts, however, the teams use conventional lit fuses; with so much electrical equipment around on the mountains (not to mention the ever-present risk of a sudden lightning strike) using electric cabling to trigger dynamite is simply not an option. Unsurprisingly, if a thrown charge somehow fails to ignite, you don’t just go and take a look to see why. There’s a safe minimum wait of 30min – and one charge is on record as having detonated after 27min.

Preparing to move on after successful avalanche charge

Above, L-R: Preparing the fuse; the lit charge is thrown; vital ear-protection during the detonation; mission accomplished, the team prepares to move on.

Time for a break...

Once the pistes are signed-off as safe the lifts can open for recreational skiers, but the pisteurs remain on call for emergency recoveries of anyone unfortunate enough to have a bad fall requiring medical treatment. The steel-thighed teams are soon on scene to transport the patient safely and swiftly down the mountain, skiing with a heavy stretcher sled or hitching it to a snowmobile.

The teams perform mountain recoveries of injured skiers and snowboarders in all weather conditions, using snowmobiles and pure skiing ability.

At the end of the day the lifts close and the mountain falls silent, and which point the meticulous inspection patrol begins again, this time in reverse. As soon as the last skiers have begun their final descents the pisteurs fan out behind them, re-skiing every piste to check for stragglers or anyone in difficulty. At times like these the total silence is a great aid to concentration – and you have to say that in good visibility the teams enjoy this aspect of their work. As before, every single run is signed off by the pisteur responsible, ready for the piste-groomers to begin their overnight work. Passions Icon

Piste patrol team, Samoens, French Alps.
A brief moment of relaxation for the pisteurs of the Grand Massif, before they inspect and close the pistes for another day.

Our Hosts

We produced this report in the Grand Massif ski domaine, situated in the Haute-Savoie region of the French Alps. One of the largest linked ski areas in France, it comprises over 133 runs (265km) with 78 ski lifts which connect the ski villages of :
Flaine, Les Carroz, Samoëns, Morillon and Sixt Fer à Cheval