AN AVALANCHE safety expert is so concerned about the risk of inexperienced British skiers triggering avalanches in the Alps this winter that he is to embark on a national tour to preach a message of safety and caution.

After a long, hot summer, most skiers are only now turning their thoughts to the winter ahead. But Henry Schniewind, an American, believes that to drive home the dangers of off-piste skiing he must get to them before the season begins.

Under the slogan “Safety is Freedom”, Mr Schniewind, 41, an off-piste ski expert at the French resort of Val d’Isère, will warn that an estimated 90 per cent of all avalanches are caused by people.

He told The Times: “The last thing we want to do is to stop people having fun, but the mountain can be a lot more dangerous and unpredictable than many people realise.

“Everybody wants to go off-piste these days. The slopes are more crowded and the equipment is so much better that even relatively inexperienced skiers and snowboarders can go where the best snow is.”

Mr Schniewind’s decision to visit Britain follows a growing debate in France about how to prevent the increasing number of deaths in the mountains. Fifty-five people, including five Britons, were killed in avalanches in the French Alps in 2005-06, the highest number since records began. Experts believe it was such a deadly year because bitter conditions at the start of the season and a thin snow cover led to a fragile “base layer”. After heavy snowfalls, large areas became highly unstable and prone to avalanche.

Although extreme weather conditions are a factor, most experts believe that the growing numbers of skiers venturing beyond the delegated runs is to blame for the increase. The attractions of going off-piste are not hard to understand. It is where the best powder snow can be found, while the majestic scenery and the absence of other skiers create a sense of adventure not found on groomed slopes.

Although Mr Schniewind does not want to stop skiers from going off-piste, he believes that a little information could save lives.

Even those without guides, he says, should be safe so long as they exercise restraint and common sense.

Those attending one of his “avalanche talks”, as they are known in Val d’Isère, receive a range of advice, from having the right equipment and knowing how to use it — typically a probe pole, shovel and transceiver — to checking weather conditions and identifying the safest route down a slope.

Mr Schniewind will begin his tour at the Xscape real snow slope in Braehead, Glasgow, next week, before continuing to Leeds, Milton Keynes and Poole.

John Yates-Smith, 54, co-founder of the YSE chalet holiday specialist in Val d’Isère, home to some of the world’s most demanding off-piste skiing, says many Britons think skiing is a video game. “They don’t know the mountains and haven’t grown up around them.”

About 40 per cent of the 1.2 million Britons who travel abroad to ski each year head for France.

OFF-PISTE SAFETY

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