Michael Schumacher: disaster lurked in the pristine Alpine resort of Méribel

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/dec/30/disaster-lurked-michael-schumacher-meribel

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It was a glorious sunny morning on Sunday when Michael Schumacher left his chalet in the exclusive Alpine resort of Méribel to go skiing with his 14-year-old son.

The previous day had seen fresh snowfall and Schumacher, an accomplished skier apparently hooked on the thrill of speed, was heading for an exhilarating off-piste ski in the fresh powder. The seven-times Formula One world champion and his family spend every Christmas at the chalet and know the ski runs in the Three Valleys area well.

As Schumacher and his son set off down the trail, above them towered the distinctive tooth-shaped peaks of the Dent de Burgin, and below them lay a Christmas card scene of snow-covered fir trees and the wooden chalets of Méribel. As they skied down, on their right was the Grand Couloir below the Saulire gondola – a steep, wide chasm which is the target of many an off-piste skier or snowboarder.

They could have chosen either the Mauduit red run, which is difficult and often left ungroomed by the piste bashers so the fresh snow soon turns into moguls or bumps. Or they might have taken La Biche, which is marked as an easier blue run but is steep and fast in places.

But in the end they must have decided that they liked the look of the relatively untouched powder in a pocket between the two pistes.

However, disaster lurked on the glistening slopes. At 11.16 am, as he raced downhill between the two groomed slopes, Schumacher tumbled on to his right side at high speed and hit his head hard on a rock, according to French officials and doctors at the Grenoble hospital where he remains in critical condition.

Investigators from the gendarmerie based in the Alpine resort of Bourg St Maurice were on Monday on the mountainside attempting to establish the exact circumstances of the accident that has left the 44-year-old clinging to life. Schumacher was wearing a helmet and this fact alone saved him from dying on the mountain, according to the medical team treating him.

Prosecutor Patrice Quincy, based in Albertville, the home of the 1992 Winter Olympics, said two ski patrollers arrived at the scene of the accident "immediately". "There is no question of anyone else being involved in the accident," Quincy stressed. "The victim lost his balance and banged his head extremely violently on small rocks concealed by the snow."

According to one French media report, the blow to Schumacher's head was so fierce that his helmet cracked. Investigators said they are examining his helmet and skis.

After the impact, Schumacher was conscious but "stunned", neurosurgeon Stephan Chabardes told a news conference at the hospital on Monday. "He didn't respond to questions after the accident. He didn't have a normal neurological reaction."

The two patrollers were joined by two other rescuers who called gendarmes for help and Schumacher was quickly helicoptered to the nearest hospital, at Moûtiers. Within an hour, doctors there decided that his injuries required the skills of the specialist trauma unit in Grenoble, where he arrived at 12.40pm. Within minutes he was being wheeled in for surgery to reduce the pressure in his skull from the severe brain trauma he suffered in the crash.

Although off-piste, the trail between two steep ski runs marked blue and red is popular with Méribel skiers, who told France2 television that they could not believe Schumacher was fighting for his life after falling on the slope, which is devoid of trees. The trail, easily seen and accessed by emergency services, is the kind of area where less experienced skiers might find themselves by accident, particularly later in the season, when piste and off-piste snow look similar.

Méribel, one of the most expensive ski resorts in Europe after Courchevel in the neighbouring valley, favoured by wealthy Russians, advertises its "vast off-piste terrain to tempt powder addicts looking to carve their tracks in deep, virgin snow, surrounded by stunning alpine scenery".

But compared with previous years, the resort has had less snow so far this season. Although more than 30cm (12in) of powder fell on Boxing Day and another 20cm on Saturday, strong winds meant in exposed areas the slopes remained relatively bare.

"There's not only grass under the snow," said one local official. "There are rocks of course."

Avalanche warnings were also in effect in Alpine resorts over the weekend, and skiers and snowboarders were urged to stick to the marked trails after several had been killed by avalanches in recent days, caused by the fresh powder not binding well with the hard-packed snow beneath.

A rise in temperature made it easier for the fresh snow to break off. On Friday in Courchevel, mountain guide Lionel Blanc was walking up the Avals Valley to his off-piste hostel with skins attached to his skis when he was killed by an avalanche. His death shocked the community, which is accustomed to tragedy in the Alps.

Had Schumacher and his son just taken the 12-minute ride on the ski-lift to Saulire from Méribel before setting off on the fateful run? Or had they already skied across to Courchevel and back? "He may have come from Méribel. But it's a vast skiing area. That is for the investigation," said a gendarmerie spokesman.

Surge in sales of safety gear

A decade ago wearing a ski helmet similar to the one doctors said had saved Michael Schumacher from certain death would have got you laughed off the slopes.

But in recent years there has been a boom in sales of skiing and snow boarding safety gear as the wearing of helmets has shifted from uncool to commonplace.

Last year, Travel insurers Essential Travel made helmets compulsory for skiing customers, while the World Snow Awards included a category for best safety equipment manufacturer for the first time this year.

Mark Riedy, spokesman for Giro, one of the biggest global manufacturers of ski and cycle helmets, said the last decade had seen a revolution in people's attitude to safety on the slopes.

"There has been a massive trend towards helmet adoption over the past ten years as people have become more aware of the devastating impact of head trauma," he said. "Particularly on the slopes in America it would be very unusual not to go skiing and see around 80% of people wearing helmets on the mountain. I think people now realise that it is not worth risking the long term consequences for the sake of looking cool."

Younger snowboarders were less likely to wear helmets than skiers, he said, but since helmets came into circulation around 30 years ago there had been a growing recognition of their value.

According to ski safety website Ski Injury, maintained by Dr Mike Langran, president of the International Society for Skiing Safely , "the latest worldwide data indicates that in some countries up to 80% of skiers and boarders now wear a helmet", but said that adoption varied significantly from country to country.

Helmet sales in the USA have risen from 290,000 in 1998/99 to 1.3 million in 2009/10, and almost 90% of children under 12 in France now wear a helmet after a PR campaign by Medicins de Montagne.

Data from the 2009 to 2010 National Demographic study done by the National Ski Areas Association, showed 57 % of US skiers and snowboarders wore helmets during the 2009-2010 ski season, compared with 25 percent during the 2002-2003 ski season. <strong>Alexandra Topping </strong>

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