Opinion Stay On the Slopes By DAVID ZOPPETTI	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
ゲレンデで滑ろう ゲレンデで滑ろう 先月、長野県白馬村のスキー場で雪崩のため ニュージーランド人のスノーボーダーが 行方不明になった事故で ニュージーランドのマスコミが 日本の警察の捜索方法を激しく非難した。 しかし、その報道は誤解に基づくもだった…。

Last February, three snowboarders from New Zealand were killed in an avalanche at the Hakuba ski resort of Nagano Prefecture. During the days that followed the accident, the New Zealand press criticized the local police virulently for not starting rescue operations fast enough.

Their accusations were based on word from one of the snowboarders' friends, who said that as a rule the Japanese police don't start looking for avalanche victims until they have confirmation that the victims are properly insured and can pay for the expenses they cause. Needless to say, this created quite an uproar in New Zealand.

It turned out that the information wasn't accurate. Indeed, the Nagano police had a helicopter searching for the victims within an hour of receiving information of the accident. Although they didn't manage to get people on the ground the same day, teams began searching with specially trained dogs as early as 6 a.m. the following day.

The New Zealand press eventually recognized that the information had been incorrect, and the snowboarders' friend in Japan also admitted that what he had said was based on a misunderstanding.

After six days of fruitless searching, the decision was made to give up looking for the victims, as their chances of survival were basically nil and the rescuers were putting their own lives at risk.

I am sure such a decision must have been painful and frustrating for everyone involved. Actually, the friends of the victims were so infuriated that they continued searching on their own, disregarding warnings by police and local mountaineers.

And this brings me to the core of the story. Needless to say, the deaths of three young people are a terrible thing. Unfortunately, theirs was a type of accident that occurs just too often at ski resorts all around the world, and there is a lesson to learn from it.

Indeed, they had ventured way out of the designated ski slope into an area clearly marked as a high-risk avalanche zone. In fact, that specific valley is known locally as the "avalanche nest," and the snowboarders, who were spending their third season in Hakuba, must have been well aware of this.

In other words, they were looking for trouble.

I myself started skiing as soon as I could walk and I can well understand how experienced skiers (or snowboarders) might get bored with the average ski resort and feel an urge to seek more thrilling sensations elsewhere. But you have to remember that mountains are as dangerous as they are attractive.

So the basic rule is: Stay on the slopes! If you really want to go off and experience the wilderness and beauty of high mountains, then do so with an experienced mountain guide!

When people go off on their own like this, they not only put themselves at risk, but also expose others to danger. Fellow skiers might get caught in avalanches they cause, and rescuers risk their lives to go and look for the missing.

Venturing off-piste is a rather selfish thing to do. I hope that those of you who intend to go skiing during Golden Week will keep this in mind.

Shukan ST: March 31, 2000

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