Accidentology of mountain sports Combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to define possible accident prevention strategies

MAUD VANPOULLE BASTIEN SOULÉ

VÉRONIQUE REYNIER BRICE LEFÈVRE OLIVIER MORET

JULY 2022

Synthese ACCIDENTOLOGIE MONTAGNE_A4-GB.indd 1 11/07/2022 12:052.2. CIRCUMST NCES OF RESCUES IN A SKI TOURING AND SKI MOUNTAINEERING CONTEXT

(5,469 INDIVIDUALS RESCUED)100 %

HURT: INJURED, SICK OR DECEASED62 %

UNHARMED 38 %

These are individuals who became stranded for physical, material or

technical reasons: emergency situations where climbers were unable to complete their outing without assistance or, more rarely, those generated by a fall or due

to falling rock, ice or seracs, or even a harmless avalanche

TRAUMATIC FATALITIES: 3 % OF THE TOTAL RESCUED

AND 5 % OF THOSE PHYSICALLY IMPACTED

Types of accident on average per year (between 2008 and 2018):

Avalanches 13,4/an Falls 5,2/an

Falling rocks/seracs/ice 0,2/an Falls into crevasses 1,1/an

TYPES OF ACCIDENT MASSIF

SAISONS

Fall 53% Stranding 17% Injury without a fall 13% Avalanche 8% Falling rocks/seracs/ice 2%

Mont-Blanc 40% Maurienne-Tarentaise- Belledonne 17% Mid-altitude South 14% Oisans-Écrins 13% Mid-altitude North 11% Central Pyrenees 5%

March to May 50% November to February 49% June to October 1%

The severity of falls and the lethality of avalanches Given equal proportions of accidents, falls generate a greater risk of injury and avalanches a greater risk of death. Although avalanches remain the most common cause of death among skiers, falls should not be overlooked. Indeed, an average of five people a year are killed as a result of falls (PGHM data only) and such events lead to a disproportionate number of interventions.

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Synthese ACCIDENTOLOGIE MONTAGNE_A4-GB.indd 13 11/07/2022 12:06

Limiter les accidents sur la voie normale du mont Blanc. (Limit accidents on the Mont Blanc normal route)

Étudier les ponts de neige. (Study snow bridges)

Thèse sur le travail des cordistes. (Thesis on rope access work)

Aménager le camp Berger avec la FFS. (Set Up Camp Berger with the FFS (French Caving Federation))

Prévention du danger d avalanche. (Avalanche preventio)n

Seattle Mountain Rescue Team.

Mountain Education Alliance.

Asociación Ukhupacha.

THE PETZL FOUNDATION

Other 2022 Projects accident reports and accounts from the community via the SERAC database, on the collaborative site, Camptocamp.org. This helped identify the primary contributing factors in mountain accidents. Vanpoulle found that a miscommunication or lack of communication in the group, poor time management, and difficult conditions all played a role in the occurrence of an accident or incident.

Through surveys and interviews, Vanpoulle was able shed light on different relationships that mountaineers have with risk. She identified three concepts that mountaineers relate to and use to help define their commitment in the mountains: - Acceptance and evaluation of risk - Vulnerability linked to doubts about their ability to manage the situation - Sense of control and a willingness to manage risk Laboratoire L-ViS de l Université Lyon 1 Support: 65,000 from 2018 to 2022

The primary results are available for download on the Petzl Foundation website.

Accident Prevention

Managing risk in vertical environments is an important aspect in the professional and recreational world alike. The Petzl Foundation provides support for technical training, encourages efforts to disseminate safety information, and contributes to accident prevention education and training.

THREE YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON MOUNTAIN SPORTS ACCIDENTOLOGY

The Petzl Foundation hosted Maud Vanpoulle as she completed her PhD on mountaineering, climbing, and ski touring accidents. The goal was to refine our understanding of the processes that lead to accidents in the mountains, in order to propose preventive solutions backed by scientific knowledge.

The first objective of the study, carried out in collaboration with the L-VIS laboratory at the University of Lyon 1, was to create a quantitative evaluation of accidents. The primary data source was the mountain rescue data centralized by the National Mountain Safety Observation System (SNOSM). Analyzing this database has made it possible to understand the factors that contribute to an accident, as well as identify victim profiles and recurring circumstances at the origin of accidents in mountaineering and ski touring.

The second thesis objective was to analyze complex accidents. We dove into