Avalanche Killers

The mining village of Alta. high in Utah's snow-laden Wasatch Mountains, was destroyed by an avalanche in 1874, with the loss of more than 60 lives. The wrecked town remained relatively deserted (the mine had played out anyway) until the skiing boom of the 1930s brought a new kind of life. Now Alta has attractive lodges, and the cars of skiers cram its snow-walled parking lots. But above the town are the same steep slopes that hurled the fatal avalanche.

To prevent similar tragedies, and worse ones, the U.S. Forest Service is applying the science of avalanche control, with its first research center, appropriately, at avalanche-scarred Alta. This week the latest hard-muscled graduates of the Alta research station were watching and measuring the snow to determine whether it will stick safely to the mountainsides or roar down into the valleys at 70 m.p.h.

One of the most dangerous conditions is a deep layer of old snow that has packed down and covered the ground smoothly. New snow that falls on such a prepared surface is apt to slide. Fluffy snow is the least dangerous because it tends to felt together and stay where it falls, but granular, "pellet" and "needle" snow tend to form layers that slide easily.

The old mountaineer's tale that a coyote's howl can start an avalanche is only a slight exaggeration. Avalanches are triggered by such small causes as a handful of snow .falling off a tree. When the avalanche experts decide that a dangerous slide is building up, they often trigger it in advance when it will do no harm. Handiest avalanche-starting technique: a direct hit near the top of a slope from a rifle, a howitzer or a mortar. Sometimes one shot is enough to bring the enemy down.

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