normal magazin nummer23 winter

Christoph Bissig und sein Team ist nicht nur auf Ski- ern unterwegs, sondern auch mit dem Pistenfahrzeug. Sometimes Christoph Bissig gets around by snowcat.

Nach schlimmen Unfällen ist es für alle Beteiligten wichtig, dass sie sich im Team über das Geschehene austauschen können. Strong and silent Christoph is the cool, collected head of a team of 15 patrolmen and women.

usual response is “You’re welcome. That ’s my job.” That job is dif ferent ever y day. Some days there are blizzards, on other days glori- ous sunshine. His radio is his most impor tant tool; avalanches are his biggest foes – along with wrongly positioned barriers and inac- curate signs and markings. And even strong, silent Christoph has emotional days when he comes close to breaking point: “I once accom- panied an American who had lost his son and wanted to see the rav ine where it happened. He cried so bit terly and shouted his son’s name

comprehension can be hard to swallow. “Some skiers just won’ t be told,” says Christoph. “It seems they want to put themselves in danger.” Swiss national accident insurance f und Suva and accident prevention bureau BFU aim to educate snow spor ts enthusiasts and mini- mise the risk of accidents. Christoph and team work closely with both organisations. Ski areas host events and put up posters to draw at ten- tion to the dangers. The hope is that people will bet ter adapt their choice of piste and style of skiing to their ac tual ability – so that a day of

so loudly, it made my blood freeze.” Another day Chris- toph will never forget was when an avalanche engulfed a ski slope: “We had no idea how many people were bur- ied underneath.” He recalls

skiing ends in a cosy moun- tain hut over a fondue sup- per and not in the hospital. The police emphasise that anyone who leaves marked slopes despite clear signs and warnings does so

The Titlis SOS service rescues around 340 people each year.

another occasion when he and two colleagues had to seek shelter in a glacier crevasse during a storm. Working conditions are almost always dangerous – not on ly for those team mem- bers who have explosives in their rucksacks. Christoph and his team never point the finger when someone is seriously injured or even killed. “We’re there to rescue people, not judge them,” he says. But the team of ten feel that their ef for ts to save lives, of ten risking their own to do so, are not properly appreci- ated. Christoph has even been entangled in cour t cases on occasion. “In our job there’s always a chance you could be charged with bodily harm or manslaughter.” Christoph and the SOS team know the area like the back of their ski gloves and are even able to assess dangers just from the tex ture of the snow. But all too of ten, a daredev il of f-piste skier will think he knows bet ter than the team when they tr y to warn him of f skiing on a closed slope or descent. The criticism and lack of

at their own risk. And Christoph agrees: “It ’s quite simple: if you leave the pistes, you have to ready to accept the dangers out there.” His serious face is v isited by a smile when he adds, “Snow spor ts are a wonder f ul thing. Let ’s enjoy the f reedom they bring while also tak- ing good care – of ourselves and of others.” Each year, 65,000 Swiss nationals get hur t on ski slopes at home and abroad. But it’s not just the number of accidents that worries Swiss insurance fund Suva – rather, it’s the severit y of the injuries. For example, cases of broken bones following a fall have greatly increased over the past ten years. Whereas 17 percent of snow spor ts accidents used to lead to broken bones, that figure is now 22 percent. The number of accidents resulting in multiple fractures has also increased. Suva ascribes this to the fact that people ski too fast and to the increased number of slopes with hard, packed ar tificial snow.

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