Missing

6 skiers, that is the number of people currently missing in the French mountains this winter.

6/7th January 

In Tignes a 39 year od British man has been missing since Sunday evening when he went to do "one last run". Around a meter of wind blown snow has fallen since his disappearance. The rescue is centered around where his mobile phone was geolocalized. There are numerous avalanches in the sector. In the Pyrénées-Orientales a "very experienced" local skier has been missing since Saturday after setting out on a ski tour. He was at the summit of Pic Mortiers at 2600 meters when his friend lost sight of him after he tried to recover a ski that had slid on a very steep slope. The missing man has an avalanche beacon.

23rd February

The rescue services have been looking for a missing local skier in Bareges since the 23rd of February. Tracks were found from the col de Barèges to the summit of the pic d'Aygues-Cluses. Then nothing, no sign of descent just a few footprints at the summit.

4th March 

In the Savoie two skiers are missing tonight after having been caught by a slide at Planay in the ski resort of d'Arêches-Beaufort. Yesterday a father and his son were caught by an avalanche in the same sector. The incident occurred around 16h30 under the col de la Bâthie. The 16 year old son was hospitalized as a precaution. A women also suffered a shoulder injury following an avalanche near the lac Tournant above Arêches-Beaufort. The avalanche risk in the sector was 3/5 over the weekend. Despite extensive searches no trace has been found of the missing snow shoer at Samoens nor the two skiers in Planay. The searches are ongoing today involving dozens of rescue workers. Since the start of the season there is a missing British skier in la Plagne and two missing ski tourers in the Pyrenees.

The rescue services have spent 1000s of hours searching for these skiers, often in dangerous conditions, the searches are ongoing today but now their families will have to wait for the spring thaw. A simple tracking app like RATA may have saved a huge amount of time and even lives.

RATA Google Play Download

Saved by a single SMS

RaTa sends location information via SMS. This is the most reliable communications mechanism in the mountains bar a professional radio system. Why? Because an SMS only needs a few milliseconds of connection to a cell to get the message through. After that it is up to the mobile phone service to get it through to the destination.

Take the case of Mathias Deyman who wanted to cut between pistes in the Pyrenean ski resort of Artouste. Caught be an avalanche he was taken over cliffs and partially buried by a tree. He was unable to get a phone signal and unable to climb out. He tried sending an SMS then prepared for a long wait. The phone eventually got a faint signal from a cell tower and the message, a single letter "H" (Help" was on its way to be received by a Simon, a friend, who contacted the rescue services. Simon new that Mathias was late coming back from skiing, he must be in trouble and using triangulation they were able to get an idea where he was. After an uncomfortable night Mathias was happy to see the sight of the rescue helicopter hovering above, they'd spotted him thanks to an orange rugby shirt.

Imagine if you have RaTa installed on your phone, automatically sending location updates like a pulse and able to respond to SMS to give your exact location?

What is RaTa

RaTa tracks your current position via the telephone's GPS, cellphone towers and wifi and periodically sends location updates via the SMS network to your contact list. Up to three contacts can be added. The app is aimed at backcountry enthusiasts who want to keep in touch with their friends and family in areas where cellphone signals are often poor.

The SMS system is used because unlike data it can work on an intermittent and weak signal, frequently the case in mountain or forested terrain or when cell towers are few and far between. SMS is often provided for free, or low cost, with standard cellphone packages.

As well as sending a periodic update the app can be set to reply with your location to anyone in your contact list who sends an SMS message with the word: rata in it. You don't have even have to turn on periodic updates. Tracking stays operational after a telephone reboot.

• A "touch base" function lets you send an immediate position update to your contacts.
• You can also monitor GPS satellite numbers and signal strengths.
• RaTa also helps with preparing a help message in case of an accident.

Note: The App uses the SMS network, you may be charged for sending messages. Please check your phone plan before use.

Google Play Download