Zinal offers safe off-piste skiing

Zinal has tried to make freeriding safer for snowboarders and skiers. www.anniviers.ch

A resort in canton Valais is offering skiers and snowboarders the chance to venture off-piste safely - thanks to a new security system.

Skiing or snowboarding off-piste is one of the biggest winter thrills Switzerland has to offer. But it has a downside.

On average, 25 people die in avalanches every year in Switzerland, according to figures released by the Office for the Prevention of Accidents. Of these, ten are off-piste skiers or snowboarders.

Thrills

Too often, the thirst for excitement outweighs the need to seek out reliable information. Most resorts issue daily bulletins on the quality of their off-piste skiing areas and the risk of avalanches, but not everyone takes any notice.

Officials in the resort of Zinal, however, believe it is possible to get all the thrills of skiing and snowboarding on powder snow, without risking life and limb.

Sitting in the shadow of the imposing Weisshorn mountain, Zinal is the last town in the Anniviers Valley. It has become famed for the unrivalled quality of its powder snow, and has become something of a Mecca for off-piste enthusiasts.

Freeride domain

In an effort to encourage people to ski off-piste in safety, the resort has opened a 100-hectare freeride domain. But to enter, you have to be properly equipped.

“We’re trying to direct these people into zones where the risks can be better managed,” says Pascal Bourquin, who is responsible for ski lifts in Zinal.

The image of off-piste skiers and snowboarders is too often that of irresponsible youngsters deliberately seeking out the most dangerous slopes possible. But Bourquin told swissinfo that freeriders were using this new secure zone in preference to more precarious part of the mountain.

“Most people don’t ski off-piste for the danger. They do it to leave a trace in the snow where no one has gone before,” says Bourquin.

Beacon

Everyone entering the secure domain has to be equipped with an avalanche rescue beacon, as well as a pole or a shovel. The gates to this zone will only open if they pick up the special frequency emitted by the beacon.

If the risk of avalanche is at three or higher on the five-point scale, the barriers will remain locked, though, of course, this will not deter the determined freerider.

“This is a prevention tool. We’re not here to be policemen,” says Bourquin.

At the entrance to the domain is a panel in four languages, reminding skiers of the four key rules of off-piste skiing: to have consulted the avalanche bulletin in advance; to not ski alone; to only enter if you are a competent skier; to not enter if visibility is poor.

“There will always be people who aren’t qualified, or who aren’t properly equipped. If we want to reduce the risk of accident, we need more preventative measures,” says Bourquin. “Gone are the days of simply cordoning off an area with a rope.”

by Roy Probert