The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-02-16
FURY Of THE AVALANCHE IA
ST.. FINED TO THE SWISS
ALPS
CAUSES FOR DELUGE OF ICE
Horses nnd Mules Seem to Realize
Proximity of Danger-ThrilI-
..- Ing Experience One
Man Had.

1t would BIC hard to find anything II,
ancient mythology more titanic than ar
active avalanche. Biologists have made
elaborate calculations of the enormous
pressure exerted by a glacier, and scien-
lists have harnessed lightning, but no
man has yet tempered with that fury Of
the mountain tops, "a moving avalanche.
Stretch a. Niagara falls 10000 feet UP in
stead of a few hundred. Imagine the
cataract snow, the rising spray cloudy
streaner of SNOW particles, the velocity
that Of cannon ball rather than a wa
terfan the sound, the sharp, harsh, deaf.
ening reports of hattie artillery, not the
long, continuous dun boom OF a torrent,
and one gets Il faint idea of the over
whelming grandeur OF these fierce noun
tain forces that sweep whole forests
away like loose matches. With the ava
lanche one law alone is known. Every
thing must keep out of the way. This
holds the Investigator at guardedly re-
spectful distance, and his observation
point IS chosen with the strategy Of "a
scout says the New York Post.
In the selkirks, where the snowfall is
heavier than in the Rockies, and the
slopes more precipitous, with fewer foot
hills, avalanchcs have AN alarming trick
ff jumping all guards and changing their
course without notice. But on both rang
es there are many places where one can
in perfect safety watch the snow tor
rents crash over palisaded precipice with
a roar that sets the very air vibrating.
WHERE THE sNowsLIDE STARTS
Lake Louise, thirty miles west of the
entrance to the main northern Rockies,
is an IDEAL spot for observing the ways Nct
an avalanche. a mountain of snow,
shutting off all view to mlidheavens, runs
sheer across one end of the lake., in q.
continuous, horizontal sky line like Il
wall Of alabaster. Down this in parallel
vertical lines are etched the scorings sof
numerous avalanches, that shoot over
the lower lodges In a final plunge To
the left OF Mount Victoria are Caste
Crags and LEROY, massive with snow OF
unreasonable depth and fantastic FORM
Behind these peaks Is a giant bastion,
: guarding the way to Paradise valley
This Is Mount Temple, q huge. domed
granite pile, towering high above the
clouds In an almost straight ascent, Its
naked rock. striped, grooved and chalked
into Il thousand odd designs by falling
aValanches. On all these peaks ava
lanches may be see during the entire
summer. and In the, Selkirks there is
scarcely a mountain of any altitude
whose forested, TANKS do rot show the
long, narrow, clean strip OF an avalanche
that has swept from summit to base
1t Is when the heat Of early summer
melts the snow Of the lower slopes, loos-
ening the foundations Of the vast white
fields along. the peaks, that avalanches
are most active and frequent. AS the
fhaW Is greatest at midday, that is the
best time to watch the snow torrents
fiinging down from airy heights to abys-
NAL depths. On Mount Victoria; for in
stance, between II in the morning and 9
In the afternoon, as many as thirteen
different slavalanches have been 5 seen
Smaller volumes Of. snow pour: down as
frequently from the south side of Mount
Temple, and from the white edges of
Castle Crags and Lefroy-edges that
from distance seem only few feet
deep, but on actual measurement are
from z00 to 300 vertical feet-break enor-
nous masses Of solid, hard packed snow.
Yhirlng slowly over and over through
the air till the falling weight gains ire
mendous momentum. Then the whole
Is shattered into a thousand fragments
against projecting lodges and crashes
down IN a shower Of snow that clouds
the air for an hour after the fall
OTHER CAUSES POTENT. |
The same course is not always followed.
A sudden heat sometimes frees an ac-
cumnation at an unexpected point and
the irresistible volume plows new fur
row for itself down the SCARED noun.
tainside. Where buttresses flanking the
base OF an upper snowf1e'd converge into
q central depression originally the ready
made channel is usually taken. but the
same field may discharge itself duwn a
nat slope, with deeply grooved beds or,
each side However ezra tic the course Of
All avalanche may be, its trail is unmis-
taxable. The paral Ell lines Wis BILE agains:
the far-distant upper SHOWS are sue
ceeded on the lower slopes by clean
cut swath through the forests, leaving
not q vestise but the fresh green of A
new growth Bowlders and hil.ocks and
brush may line the trail, but clean
sweep from snow to valley marks The
wake. ...E .., 3.E |
At distance the avalanche resembles
tar-or cataract A dull boom, like tn,
!nunder OF surf in rocky caverns, sets all
the hills to re-echoing. and one looks up
to see what might be thin water lines
and clouds of spray pouring over preci-
p1ce. Take field glass. The thin water
lines are fumes Of snow, bread as tor.
rent. The spray becomes seethlng
storm OF snow, compared to which n
blizzard would be a zephyr At nearer
range the view Is still more tirnposins.
One can note the very creation of thes.
giant fosces. In some steep circus 4
walled on all sides but one where the
deciivity descends, so sharply that any
falling body must take this slope, q great
crack Will appear across the face of a
srowfteld. Day by day the rift widens.
till a cornice Of ice ard snow sc,frls over
the outer edge OF the precipi,e The
WhoIe mass keeps forcing forward Then
only breath of warm air from the val
ley or the displac ment Of a s.ng.e stone
Is enough. Millions and bill ons Of t ms 4
acres and miles of snow. 9tarl over and
come racing down a ten-niie slope, swic
pnntherfne and white. with a crash that
reverherates from summit to summit In /
'ood explos We ''rocketing'' echoes.
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS.
Too close range would, of course meoa i
death to the observer. not necessarily be-
cause he would be hurled away in the
winch every practical engineer and miner
ah1aelstrom of snow and Eowlder. but be-
cause OF the strange ATM spheric ceEai-
.lehs created by the avalanche. This
rs point ignored by scientists. bat with
IN mountainous regions is familiar These
coHalthons may also account for the
( sharp, pistol-iike repor frequently heard
ahoVe the roar and rush of snow. The
velocity OF an avalanche is inconcsivably
i "a pfd TO obtain accurate record Wonll
seem out OF the question. But these
two facts concerning the velocity are
known. .Avalanefes seen by people IN
the valley, at distance OF five, seven
and ten miles. have swept; down So
swiftly though they We're seen distinct
ly starting downward, that people pesoW
could not get five yards out of their
way The other fact is that when dwell
ers in the valley have been ki lcs by
ayalanches death has frequently resulted
got from q blow. bat from snffocation,