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November 16, 2013

Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek

snowfall.jpg

The snow burst through the trees with no warning but a last-second whoosh of sound, a two-story wall of white and Chris Rudolph’s piercing cry: “Avalanche! Elyse!”

The very thing the 16 skiers and snowboarders had sought — fresh, soft snow — instantly became the enemy. Somewhere above, a pristine meadow cracked in the shape of a lightning bolt, slicing a slab nearly 200 feet across and 3 feet deep. Gravity did the rest.

Snow shattered and spilled down the slope. Within seconds, the avalanche was the size of more than a thousand cars barreling down the mountain and weighed millions of pounds. Moving about 7o miles per hour, it crashed through the sturdy old-growth trees, snapping their limbs and shredding bark from their trunks.

The avalanche, in Washington’s Cascades in February, slid past some trees and rocks, like ocean swells around a ship’s prow. Others it captured and added to its violent load.

Somewhere inside, it also carried people. How many, no one knew.

NOTE BENE: This is Multimedia Feature that demands engagement with the source at this link for the full effect- NYTimes.com

Posted by gerardvanderleun at November 16, 2013 6:32 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

The NYT manages to trivialize the deaths of people with another self centered, wordy, foolish, over-blown whatsit.

The dead threw the risk dice for trivial reasons, they lost, no more, not quite like young men on D-Day, is it?

Posted by: Fred Z at November 16, 2013 7:10 PM

The story got the full New Media treatment because this sort of thing is at the core of the way SWPL like to think of themselves. Even the words used: backcountry (even though the top of the slope was near a parking lot and a ski lift - the intentional use of 'unbury' instead of 'dug out - all correct SWPL usage. When SWPL go to the 'backcountry' they have to have special 'backcountry gear.' And, of course, Elyse lost her nose ring. The horror! The horror!

Will The Times assign a team of reporters and give them six months to write up the failure of Obongocare?

Posted by: Lorne at November 16, 2013 8:18 PM

I've always regarded skiing as a pastime of the rich.

If you buy even just the basic amount of new equipment and clothing it will set you back at least $6,000.

Ski passes, airline tickets, rental cars, hotels, food, all begin to add up.

You got ten grand to spare on risking your life or at the very least an injury that will put you on crutches?

This is why you will never see a politician on skis. It is widely perceived as the realm of the elite and rightly so.

Posted by: Doug at November 17, 2013 6:26 AM

Doug - Except for Sonny Bono.

Posted by: BillH at November 17, 2013 8:02 AM

Doug, I don't know where you came up with your numbers, but from where I learned to ski (the U.P. of Mich.), they're off by a factor of at least 10 or more.

Posted by: JimBobElrod at November 17, 2013 10:52 AM

It's a story about peer pressure and coolness pressure, in an environment where Nature isn't having any of that. The people who lived there and knew better, and the experienced skiers who should have consulted the avalanche reports instead of their adrenaline, both found out that Nature doesn't care how much fun you're having.

If the NYT is reporting a cautionary tale, and encouraging its readers not to do stupid things, this is admittedly a departure for the NYT. But it shouldn't be discouraged.

Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at November 17, 2013 2:08 PM

JimBob, a Yooper would ski with two birch branches tied to his shoes with string and twist ties.

Posted by: Doug at November 17, 2013 5:12 PM

Thannk you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it.
Look advanced to far added agreeable from you!
However, how could we communicate?

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