The hidden heroes of the slopes: As the avalanche death toll soars, SHIVALI BEST joins mountain rescue in the French Alps to discover exactly what’s being done to keep skiers safe

Spending your winters living in a picturesque ski resort in the French Alps might sound like absolute bliss. 

But for 53 people in Les Menuires, the season is far from relaxing. 

These brave men and women are ski patrollers and first responders who spend their days responding to falls, treating injuries, and tending to accidents, both on and off piste. 

While most skiiers stick to the coloured runs, which range from green (easy) to black (expert level), other thrill–seekers venture off–piste – where running into trouble can prove deadly. 

Since the start of the year, dozens of skiiers have been killed during avalanches at popular resorts in France, Austria, and Russia, sparking ‘extreme risk’ warnings. 

During these life–or–death situations, the mountain rescue crew springs into action. 

Ahead of International Ski Patrol Day, the Daily Mail’s Science & Technology Editor, Shivali Best, was invited by Helly Hansen to spend the day with ski patrol in Les Menuires.

From specially–trained avalanche dogs to thermal imaging drones, here’s exactly what’s being done to keep skiers safe at the resort. 

Located in Les Trois Vallées, Les Menuires is a popular ski resort that attracts thousands of visitors from around the world every year. 

While most don’t experience issues, Gilles Roux–Mollard, Slope Manager at Les Menuires, estimates that the on–slope rescue rate is around one rescue for every 10,000 lift passes. 

‘This amounts to a total of approximately 1,400 rescues per season, with fewer than 10% involving collisions,’ he explained. 

‘It should also be noted that not all injured skiers call upon the ski patrol services. Some make their own way to the medical centre.’

However, as I found out during my visit at the start of January, the most deadly accidents usually take place off–piste, where the risk of avalanches is heightened. 

Just days before I arrived in Les Menuires, two skiers were killed in the nearby resort of Val–d’Isère after being buried beneath 2.5 metres of snow. 

Meanwhile, another died the same day at Arêches–Beaufort after being caught in an avalanche while skiing off–piste.

To understand what can be done in these situations, I joined mountain rescue for a full day – including morning sweeps, avalanche dog drills, and a drone demonstration.

The Les Menuires team is made up of 53 ski patrollers (seven women and 46 men), as well as three avalanche dog handlers, 31 snowcat drivers, four snowmakers, and two snowpack and weather observers. 

While the first chairlift doesn’t open to the public until 9:05am, the ski patrollers’ day often begins at 7:30am with avalanche control, or PIDA (Plan d’Intervention pour le Déclenchement des Avalanches). 

‘Before skiers arrive, ski patrollers may deliberately trigger small avalanches in order to secure the slopes and the lifts,’ a spokesperson tells me. 

‘This can be done either manually or by using fixed systems installed in the mountains, which help reduce risks for ski patrollers. Helicopters can also be used.’

At 8:30am we head to the patrol base, which is strategically located right at the top of a mountain – providing quick access to all Les Menuires’ ski runs. 

There, the patrollers prepare their equipment, before regrouping for a team meeting.

Their briefing covers everything from the weather and snow conditions to areas that may need particular attention that day – as well as the ski patrollers’ assigned positions across the resort.

Finally, it’s time to open the ski runs. With an entire run to just a few of us, I spend the time taking in the stunning views and perfecting my turns. 

However, the ski patrollers are quietly doing a crucial job alongside me – checking the markers are properly in place, and looking out for any hazards, such as rocks or ice. 

Once we reach the bottom of the slope and the patrollers are happy, they officially announce the opening of the slopes, before heading to their assigned positions. 

On a standard day, the ski patrollers spend their time providing information to skiiers, responding to falls or injuries, and evacuating injured people when necessary. 

But to understand what their day might look like during a more dangerous scenario, they kindly offer to take me through several important rescue drills. 

Unsurprisingly, the most dangerous rescues take place off–piste, where snow hasn’t been cleared, and the risk of avalanches is much higher. 

‘Around 2–3% of rescues are off piste,’ one of the patrollers tells me. 

‘If you’re going off–piste, you really need to be with a guide who knows what they’re doing – and has all the right gear.’

The ‘gear’ he’s referring to includes a transceiver (also known as a beacon), a shovel, and a probe, which guides will carry in a backpack. 

The transceiver is a small electronic device that emits a radio signal which can be picked up by other transceivers, while a probe is a retractable stick you can use to poke down into deep snow. The shovel is self–explanatory. 

During a demonstration, two of the patrollers showed me how the transceiver system works – and explain how time is of the essence. 

‘Say you’re skiing with your friend and a big avalanche comes and buries you. Your friend needs to find you as quickly as possible. If you pass more than 12 minutes under there, your chance of surival is halved,’ one told me. 

Making progressively tighter turns across the slope with his transceiver in hand, the patroller soon locates the second transceiver, before plunging his probe into the snow and digging it out with a shovel. 

While this seems fairly straight–forward, he explains that the real issue is that people are going off–piste without this vital equipment at all. 

‘Last weekend, maybe only 20% of the people – maybe less – had beacons on them while going off–piste,’ he explained to the Daily Mail.

‘You can see it straight away – they don’t have a bag, which means they don’t have a shovel, and probably don’t have a probe or transceiver.’

If victims don’t have transceivers with them, the rescue crew’s next point of call is RECCO. 

This two–part system consists of a RECCO reflector – a small tab integrated into most new ski jackets – and a detector, which is either handheld, or fitted on the base of a helicopter, depending on the scale of the rescue.  

If the ski patrollers known your rough location, they’ll use a handheld detector which beeps when your reflector is within 80 metres through the air, or 20 metres through packed snow. 

However, if your location is less well known, they’ll use the RECCO Search and Rescue helicopter, which is fitted with a larger detector that beeps when it’s within 100 metres or a reflector. 

Finally, if RECCO fails to find you, it’s time to bring in the big guns – the dogs. 

These dogs are often breeds like Labradors or Border Collies, and have been trained for years with handlers to find humans deep beneath the snow. 

During our demonstration, an adorable pooch is able to find a buried volunteer within minutes, even yanking them out through a small hole in the snow. 

The dogs are deployed about eight to 10 times across the season, and are even trained to be winched down from helicopters to reach victims in the most remote, off–piste areas.

While transceivers, RECCO, and the dogs are the three main points of call, the team at Les Menuires is also the first in the world to enlist the help of a more futuristic rescue measure – a drone.

Located in a box at the edge of Lake Lou is a state–of–the–art autonomous drone, equipped with a thermal camera and a 180x zoom lens.

During a search and rescue mission, a patroller can remotely operate the drone to search for thermal signals beneath the ice, helping to guide rescuers. 

While the technology is in its infancy, the patrollers hope the drone will prove particulary helpful during night–time rescues, when pinpointing victims by sight alone proves difficult. 

In the future, the team even aim to use drones to set off controlled avalanches – although they admit it will probably be years before this is approved by the authorities.

With one of the toughest jobs in the area, you might think that the patrollers would resent people running into trouble off–piste – but surprisingly, this isn’t the case at all. 

‘We have such a short time with them, and there’s no judgement. We’re just doing our jobs,’ a patroller said. 

However, the real take–home message from the team is to educate yourself before hitting the mountain, whether you’re going on– or off–piste. 

‘There are information screens everywhere in Les Trois Vallées, there are live webcams, and there’s a helpful tourist office,’ a patroller adds. 

‘People need to know how dangerous it can be if you’re not prepared.’