Pavol Földes (1986-2010)

On Saturday, 27 February our good friend and colleague Pavol Földes died in a tragic accident.

He was snowboarding with some of us in Les Gets when a big avalanche took him away. While exploring a surrounding area just a few metres from the piste, he fell through a cornice. It was just an unfortunate coincidence that his fall triggered the avalanche where he lost his life.
Pavol was a master student from Bratislava. He majored in electronics and telecommunications at Technical University and he brought his skills to CERN as a partecipant in the Technical Student Programme on 30 January. The CERN programme wasn’t his first experience abroad. He spent some time in the United States and Italy before coming to CERN.

In the short time we knew him, he became a really good friend to all of us.  It wasn’t hard to get to know Pavol because of his positive attitude, his charismatic personality and his big smile.  There was always something to do with Pavol. Whether it was traveling, snowboarding or just going out, he was always ready to join us and never spoiled the fun. But in the hard times, he gave support to those who needed it. Of all the activities he loved, snowboarding had always held a special place in his life. He spent every free minute he had on the slopes, and joining the Ski Club was one of the first things he did when he arrived at CERN.

His passion for the mountains was also reflected in his life dreams. He often mentioned how he would like to buy a cabin in the Alps where he could spend his free time, snowboarding in winter and fishing in summer. It is a tragic irony that he died in the mountains he loved so much, but it is a small consolation for us knowing that he died while doing something he loved.
We miss Pavol very much, and our thoughts go to his family. He was more than just a colleague, he was also a very good friend to all of us.