http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1203651/Mountain-biker-falls-death-French-Alps.html?ITO=1490

Just heard that on the radio news – my first thought was "it's someone on a camping holiday who decided to give this biking thing a go". Not a nice thing to happen, but at least he was out having a good time,

Not good – we had some decents in Switzerland last year that were very sketchy – glad I was in a group, not that it would of made much difference with some of the drops off the sides of the trails.

Terrible & very sad news!
Reminds me how lucky i am after a similar accident a couple of years ago above Cham. i was lucky, the trees caught the bike and me!
I too was solo and often reflect on whether i'd have been spotted from the track?
I'm curious as to who hired him the bike and what advice he was given (if any) on where to, or where not to ride? But 100m drop – body armour becomes redundant.
Last year we saw a young girl in jeans and trainers + full face on a demo 9 at Les Houches. She approached us asking for directions to the downhill track (she looked so wrong we thought she must be so right – if you know what i mean?). We bumped into her ten minutes later, in tears, covered in mud and face first in to the first berm.
My point is she shouldn't have been there – it was too dangerous for an obvious novice. BUT, the hire shop were negligent, they should NOT have hired her the bike AND should have warned her against her obvious plans.
I hope this was not the case with the bike hire shop that hired this poor guy the bike…. Cham valley can be a very dangerous place if you dont know your way.
My sincerest condolences go to his family.

But surely the responsibility cannot lie with the hirer? With no licence required, how could they possibly vet people?

'Can you ride downhill?'

'Sure'

'Here you go then…'

Very sad nonetheless.

BUT, the hire shop were negligent, they should NOT have hired her the bike AND should have warned her against her obvious plans.

Sounds like a disastrous idea. You'd probably be annoyed if some shop worker didn't think you were up to the task and refused to hire bikes to you – you'd probably think that it's your life and you'll do what you want with it.

As flow says, you can't just look at a hirer and decide on the spot if they can ride or not. Typical example can be seen on the start line of MM 09, the guy in jeans and T-shirt and a big (false) moustache, all the pro's and wannabe's up the front looking at him sticking out like a sore thumb.
He came through 3rd on the run and was still way up in the top few dozen at the end of the first lap…

Sad thing to happen but ultimately it could happen to anyone on here on any reasonably exposed trail in the UK.

Peasnotwar – did you show the girl another trail to do? If not, then you are just as guilty as the shop as you told her where the trail was – only difference is, you didn't take money for your 'knowledge'.

Ultimately, the rider is at fault – I'm guessing it was a complete accident and not a deliberate attempt to see if they could survive a 100m drop – the hire shop isn't able to determine if a person is going to have a crash (not indeed are they able to tell what kind of crash it would be. They hire out bikes to people, they don't get you to do an exam and then certify you as capable before giving you the bike.

If the rider is riding out of their depth, then they have a choice – either hope to christ that they can ride it out/stop and walk it OR crash and ultimately hurt themself…

This isn't good news to hear but suggesting it was the hire shops fault as they hired the bike sounds a bit off to me…I'm going to put it down as serious bad luck on this guys part.

Brighton Explorers is a mountain bike club, I'd i'd imagine that he had some experience.

Really tragic.

The mountains are dangerous. MTBing is less dangerous than mountaineering where around 30 folk a year are killed in scotland but it still has dangers.

Its your personal responsibility to know what you are doing and to take appropriate precautions.

No where in that report says he was an inexperienced biker. All because you hire a bike on holiday doesn't mean your a novice.

anything could've happened for gawds sake. Might have been brake failure, he could've gotten a front wheel blow out at just the wrong moment, he might have even had a cardiac.. nobody knows yet. He probably had taken precautions, accidents happen. Sad that this was fatal.

K

this is truly sad

however in reponse to some of the comments above;

why is it always someone elses fault?
the fact that the shop hired the bike does nt mean that they are/were responsible
when will people start to take responsibility for their own actions
mountains are dangerous and mountain biking can be dangerous

ride to your limits or sh*t can happen

Indeed. The risks of mountain biking are small, patently obvious, and pretty much completely avoidable by pretty much anyone who can keep a bike upright. Assuming that the bike is mechanically sound, passing any blame to the hire company is absurd. It's not like they're hiring out paragliders or helicopters 🙂

DB,we didnt show the girl the way. At that point we hadn't ridden it and didn't know where the start was – she found it by herself. There is only one way down the mountain for novices at Les Houches – the fire road -and even that is sketchy in places at speed. Every other track gets very technical in places.
I'm pretty sure i know which shop hired her the bike (not a "proper" one),I dont know what, if any, advice they gave her. She was ultimately responsible for her own safety and level of capability – but you'd like to think they'd have given her the heads up- or maybe not where a sale is concerned ?
Why shouldn't the hire shops have a moral duty to enquire about your plans? How else could they advise what the best equipment is for you and where best to ride in the valley to suit your experience. Unless of course, they are only interested in the sale.
The first time i hired a surfboard at Croyde, the shop offered advice on which board to use and suggested, based on my experience, to have some lessons. Some of the best free advice i have ever had – and in the interests of the shop to provide it!

Point i was trying to make in my first post was this guy was alone and from my own experiences i know that potential consequences are much greater as a result.
I love the place with a passion and will always encourage and offer advice to people who are thinking of going – but it is for the most part so very technical – and subsequently so very dangerous.

I can only think it was something…unusual that happened. I rode all the balcons a few years ago & can't remember any bit where I thought 'whoa, **** me, steady on'. Yes there's big drops into the valley but IIRC the paths on all of them are resonably wide, & where it was dodgy there was either fencing or danger markers. Poor fella whatever happened.

peasnotwar – Member

but it is for the most part so very technical – and subsequently so very dangerous.

Utter pish!

Its not the place that is dangerous – its the people and the activity.

I've ridden around Chamonix, from Les Houche, and I wouldn't choose to ride solo around there, TBH. Having walked up to the Bouisson Glacier, and missed the correct path going to an overlook point, I found myself alone on a very steep slippery slope to get back to the little cafe. I felt very insecure indeed, and I wouldn't want to go walking alone up there except on the widest paths. Mountains are dangerous, and the bike hire cannot be responsible for the actions of a hirer once they've left the shop.

The mountains are dangerous.

Utter pish!

Its not the place that is dangerous – its the people and the activity.

Make your mind up.

TJ go get your health and safety manual
Hazard X risk = severity
Increase the hazard (the place) x increase the risk (MTB) = guess what?

Make your mind up

you dare question the very fount of knowledge ??

Ok – dave – I'll give you that – I didn't phrase my answer well at all.

What I meant was activities in the mountains are dangerous, not the mountains themselves. Still don't make a lot of sense

Peasnotwar – I am well trained in risk assessment. the hazard is not the mountain – it is the trail – and according to the report in the OP it was 3 ft wide and not technically difficult. The severity is high – 100m drop

I have heard of incidence x severity for risk assessment or location x person x activity but not what you say. Which makes no sense ( or even less than what I did)

Hazard X risk = severity
Increase the hazard (the place) x increase the risk (MTB)

Makes no sense.

Still – I ain't making a huge amount of sense so perhaps shutting up would be good.

I blame the beer

I ain't making a huge amount of sense

as usual ?

He is/was a member of Brighton Explorers (which I am a member of) – it's a multi-activity club, which happens to have lot of MTB experience as well. No-one knows exactly what happened as he was riding solo, but he was not inexperienced.

The rest of the club who are still out there are pretty shocked, as you can imagine. They are also less than impressed with the media.

No further comment.

Judging by the level of riding skill exhibited on the Exmoor explorer over the weekend it would terrify me to set some of these people loose in the Alps.

I met Richard once about 5 yrs ago when we rode across the Pyrenees together & he was a top bloke – a good rider & v fit. Dropoff stop spouting cr@p about folk who you know NOTHING about, you should be **** ashamed even hinting at something derogatory.

Its funny cos I always wondered where & when we would bump into each other again, after all the MTB world is quite a small one, and funnily enough I was riding in Chamonix last week..How sad..

In this instance clearly an experienced rider who had some misfortune…

Regarding the matter of renting MTB kit to persons of unknown abilities, I think MTBing pales into insigificance when compared with the ski industry. I've rented kit a few times and never had any questions asked about my ability… Same mountains / same cliffs.

Terribly sad – only consolation is that this was a 60 year old guy that was obviously loving his sport and lived life to the full rather than spending his time eating and drinking too much in front of the TV for the last 40-50 years. R.I.P.

TJ and others, the hazard is the drop (or other obstacle), the risk is the chance of going over it, and the severity relates to the height of the drop and the consequences of an accident.

The risk may be reduced by signage and trail design, rider skill and training, and use of the correct equipment, the severity by armour, helmet or crash padding/nets. In the end, we all make the judgement whether it the risk is worth it for us each time we ride wherever we ride.

My condolences to family and friends.

Ouch, hope it was quick 🙁