Skiing is an incomparable pleasure, but it is also an activity that involves certain risks. In the Valmorel ski area, we do everything possible to ensure your safety and allow you to ski without fear. But for this, it is also important to respect good behaviour in order to combine pleasure and serenity.
10 safety rules
1– Respect for others:
Users must not endanger or harm other riders by their behaviour or their equipment.
2– Control of speed and behaviour:
All riders must adapt their behaviour to:
- his or her abilities,
- the general conditions of the terrain and the weather,
- the state of the snow,
- the density of traffic.
3– Choice of direction by the person ahead:
The person upstream must choose his trajectory in such a way as to preserve the safety of anyone downstream.
4– Overtaking:
Overtaking can be done from the front or from the back, as well as from the right or from the left. They must always be wide enough to prevent the person being overtaken from moving.
5– At the crossing of the tracks or at the time of a departure:
All skiers must make sure that they can enter safely by examining the upstream and downstream sides.
6– Parking:
All skiers must avoid parking in narrow passages or without visibility. In case of a fall, he must clear the piste as quickly as possible.
7– Ascending and descending on foot:
To go up or down a piste on foot, it is imperative to use the edge of the piste.
8– Respecting the information of the markings and signs:
The skier must take into account the information on :
- the weather conditions,
- the state of the slopes and the snow.
- and he must respect the markings and signs in place.
9– Assistance:
Any person involved in or witnessing an accident must provide assistance, in particular by sounding the alarm. If necessary, at the request of the rescue team, they must make themselves available to them.
10– Identification:
Any person who witnesses or is involved in an accident is obliged to make his or her identity known to the rescue service and/or third parties.
⇒ Did you know ?
The Valmorel Ski Patrols are there to help you, guide you, monitor and prevent dangerous behaviour on the slopes.
In case of an accident
To contact the emergency services, if you witness or are the victim of an accident, call the number indicated on your skipass. Your call will be redirected to the piste regulators who will organise the rescue. In order to be efficient, please give the following information as precisely as possible:
The location of the accident :
- Name of the slope,
- Beacon number.
- Or the location incase of an off-piste accident.
– The nature of the injury
– The number and type of victims: male, female, child…
– The condition of the victim: conscious/unconscious
Valmorel’s first aiders will be able to get to the scene as quickly as possible with the appropriate equipment.
Signs of the slopes
All the slopes in the ski area are marked with markers of the same colour as their difficulty. The colours indicating difficulty are, from easiest to most difficult: green, blue, red and black. Be careful, the yellow and black markers indicate a danger!
⇒ Did you know ?
The milestones on the right side of the slope always have an orange top to differentiate them from the milestones on the left side, so that you can find your way around even in poor visibility.
Numbered markers are also present: they indicate the colour of the slope, its name and a number. The numbers indicated are decreasing: the closer to 1, the closer to the end of the slope.
Sometimes yellow triangular signs may be present on or near the slope indicating the presence of a hazard.
Tip: Remember to give your mobile number to your children!
The avalanche risk
The avalanche risk is indicated by coloured flags and 5 pictograms representing five levels of avalanche risk: low, limited, high, strong and very strong. It is imperative to consult this index before going off-piste. However, some areas may be more dangerous than others because conditions vary according to exposure or slope inclination. It is therefore preferable to check with the ski patrol to find out about snow conditions.
For your safety, Valmorel ski Area and more particularly the Rescue Service is equipped with the RECCO avalanche rescue system
Preventive avalanche control
Do you know what those pipes protruding from the sides of the mountain or those strange ski lifts without poles are for?
These are the systems used during the avalanche triggering intervention plan, called GAZEX or CATEX depending on the triggering technique used, as some areas are particularly prone to avalanches and are difficult to access. However, avalanche releases are also carried out manually by the ski patrols using explosive charges. These avalanche releases are essential to ensure the safety of skiers venturing onto these slopes, but also to ensure the safety of the infrastructure or slopes located downstream.
GAZEX
DVA equipment
When venturing off-piste in search of fresh snow and virgin slopes, it is necessary to know how to ensure your own safety. The essential equipment for any off-piste outing is the trio: shovel, probe and DVA.
A DVA Park at the top of the Pierrafort gondola
Are you an off-piste skier and have an avalanche beacon?
Do you know how to use it correctly?
During an avalanche, every minute is precious and can save a life! Being equipped with an avalanche transceiver is good, knowing how to use it to find the victims as quickly as possible is better!
Since winter 2022-23, the Valmorel Ski Area is providing a new training area at the top of the Pierrafort gondola.
Open to all, professionals or amateurs, the DVA Park allows you to train to search for several victims in a well-defined area, as quickly as possible (a stopwatch evaluates you).
A real prevention and awareness tool for freeriding, the DVA Park consists of 6 beacons buried in the snow. The concept is to locate the beacons with your probe under the pressure of the stopwatch.
At the top of the Pierrafort cable car.
Free access. Do not hesitate to ask for advice from the first aiders at the Pierrafort or Mottet rescue posts.
Bring your own equipment (DVA and probe at least)
The role of the ski patrollers
The first to arrive on the slopes at dawn, they make sure that all the signs are in place and that there is no danger on the slopes and, if the conditions require it, they carry out preventive avalanche control. They open and close the slopes and pass on the information to the regulators. During the day, they are responsible for rescuing and evacuating the injured. To find out more about this job behind the scenes, meet them during our free activity “La Trace des pisteurs“!
Your safety in video !
The mission of the women and men who work at Valmorel ski area is to ensure your safety and pleasure in the ski area, and to make your holiday as enjoyable as possible.
However, we ask you to observe a few safety rules which are explained in these 7 short fun videos:
Skizzz and the preparation to board a chairlift
I prepare myself before the gate: child on the supervisor’s side, backpack, poles…
Skizzz and boarding a chairlift
I pay attention when boarding the chairlift and concentrate only on getting the right seat.
I pay attention when walking from the gate to the seat: I don’t eat, I don’t phone, etc.
I pay attention to other passengers, especially children. I help them to adopt the right behaviour
Skizzz and the position to have during the transport on a chairlift
I stay at the bottom of the seat
Skizzz and behaviour during transport on a chairlift
I don’t try to catch a falling object, i don’t heckle
Skizzz and the arrival from a chairlift
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I don’t raise the guardrail too early
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I quickly clear the finish.
Skizzz controls its speed and trajectory on the slopes
- The skiers below me always have priority
- My speed and trajectory must not hinder other skiers!
Skizzz pays attention to other skiers on the slopes
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When I join a piste, I do not cut off other skiers.
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I do not stop in the middle of a run.
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I do not stop in the middle of a piste, in a narrow passage or without visibility!