THE AVALANCHE ENIGMA

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31125, 30 July 1966, Page 4

THE AVALANCHE ENIGMA

[Reviewed by NDHJ

The Avalanche Enigma. By Colin Fraser. Murray. 300 pp. 55 illustrations and index.

Colin Fraser is a young; Englishman who attended school in Switzerland and has worked in one of the main Alpine Rescue groups. He also spent some weeks with the; Swiss Institute for Avalanche Research. He has made such a detailed study of his fascinating subject that this reviewer can find very few faults in his well-compiled book. The following comments are therefore more a summary than a review. “The Avalanche Enigma” begins with a chapter on avalanches up to 1918. After a frightening summary of many terrifying disasters the worst record emerges with 80,000 deaths due to avalanches alone on the Austrian Italian frontier during the First World War. A moderately technical section follows, describing snow crystal structure and the sort of research work which is being done on trying to define more closely at what stage structural failure of a snow mass occurs. Many of the terms known to the civil engineer concerned with soil mechanics occur in avalanche study. The familiar terms of angle of friction, cohesion, density and moisture content are vital to both. But to the avalanche expert the effects of temperature, and the unknown cohesion at depths below the surface are the causes of the author’s “Enigma.” The exact reasons for avalanche release are not clearly understood. However, the circumstances in which they are more likely to occur are becoming better known. A large portion of the book describes the actions of many people caught in avalanches and it gives useful advice on how to avoid being caught and what to do if overwhelmed by a snow avalanche. The ice avalanche is almost totally ignored as it occurs in a limited area and the cone of ice blocks at its base is a reliable marker for all travellers to keep away. Deaths from falling ice are very rare.

Three valuable chapters deal with rescue organisations and methods. With tourism in its many forms being the main source of Swiss income there has always been an acknowledgement of the fact that the tourist’s life must be protected. As the industry grew each valley tried to avoid obtaining a reputation for possessing dangerous mountains or for being sluggish in providing assistance where it was needed. The rescue problems are frequently so large now that the occupants of one valley cannot handle them. Such vast numbers of men are required in an avalanche accident that outside help is often essential. Aircraft bring the men to the

site so much faster and they can also bring specialised probing equipment and dogs. It appears that the original Saint Bernard dogs did not 'deliver small casks of brandy to lost travellers. Their main job was to identify the location of a person covered by avalanche snow. After a man is under snow for about ten minutes, if he is still breathing, a trained dog can smell him fairly easily from the carbon dioxide emitted so long as he is no deeper than four feet Unfortunately the modem Saint Bernard is too long in the hair to be any use in deep snow. His place has been taken by Alsatians, dogs which have been very successful in recent years in a number of rescue squads. The most common method erf searching for an avalanche victim is for a team of men to push down sounding rods. A team of twenty men standing shoulder to shoulder and making a ten foot hole every ten Inches takes twenty hours to cover an area 100 yards square. It takes time to assemble these men and the victims will not last for long. It follows that it is vital for a leader to have reliable information on the most likely place for victims to be located.

How interesting it is to read that most rescue teams become notorious for their internal bickering! The avalanche teams gather in a dangerous place and keep working hard, never allowed

to say a word in case a victim calls out Ironically a man under snow can hear the movements and voices of people above him, but it is rare for rescuers to hear the calls of a covered man. The rescue party must not drop a cigarette butt or urinate near the avalanche as such actions cause pollution that gives false trails should dogs arrive. And of course if some of the rescuers consider they are not prodding in exactly the right place there is plenty of room for repercussions after the operation ends.

One sometimes hears of . a New Zealander regarding “Search and Rescue” as an expensive luxury for eccentric mountaineers. The Swiss have no illusions in this direction. Although climbers are the cause of the more spectacular rescue operations, they are involved in only 10 per cent of the country’s mountain accidents. Skiers who fall, or are caught in an avalanche head the list by a long way. Road and hydro electric workers caught by avalanches are frequently needing assistance. Other large groups come from aircraft accident victims and unskilled day trippers who seldom walk off established paths. If our tourist industry is to increase we must be willing to expand the necessary services to help the tourist who gets into difficulties whether he is lost in the bush, injured while ski-ing or is in a remote area as a result of an aircraft crash.

A very impressive portion of Mr Fraser’s book deals with the work of the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research. The Institute has a permanent high altitude laboratory employing thirty people. The meteorological section, besides doing much research work, compiles the information for snow and avalanche forecasts and gives run-off information to hydro electric stations. Another section deals with avalanche impact measuring devices, aimed for assisting engineers in calculating the forces on the many protective devices which cover certain Swiss highways and guard the upper slopes of villages. Also in the Institute are divisions examining reafforestation of frosted or avalanche-swept slopes, and another examines hail and snow in the atmosphere with the ultimate objectives of protecting aircraft, fruit trees and other vulnerable items from the ravages of hail damage. In 1965 the first International Avalanche Symposium was held and representatives attended it from seventeen countries. After reading Mr Fraser’s book and considering our many local problems this reviewer is convinced a New Zealand team should be observers at the next Symposium. The group should at least include engineers with hydro electric, catchment or structural interests, a skier and a rescue administrator. Perhaps too, there is a place for a meteorologist.