André Roch (21 August 1906 in Hermance, Switzerland – 19 November 2002 in Geneva) was a Swiss mountaineer, avalanche researcher and expert, skier, resort developer, engineer, and author.
Roch is best known for having planned and surveyed the Aspen, Colorado, ski resort, and also as an adviser on avalanche management whose expertise was sought throughout the world.
[5] Mont Forel in Schweizerland, East Greenland was first climbed by a Swiss expedition led by André Roch in 1938.
Two members of the 1952 expedition, Raymond Lambert and Norgay, reached to within 200 meters (656 feet) of the summit before being forced to turn back due to severe weather conditions and lack of oxygen.
[3] He was the first to describe the different types of snow pack that occur in the United States, and it was his lectures and published papers that prompted the US Forest Service to set up facilities at several western sites to study avalanche safety and prevention.
The first ski trail, Roch Run, opened in 1937,[11] but while awaiting further funding, World War II broke out and development halted.
[1] This trophy commemorating Roch has been won at various times by noted skiers including Billy Kidd, Franz Klammer and A. J.