...THE WHITE DRAGON'S WAKE...
INTRODUCTION 

TYPES OF          AVALANCHE 

THE MECHANISM OF AVALANCHE RELEASE 

FORECASTING SNOW AVALANCHES 

AVALANCHE CONTROL TECHNIQUES 

AVALANCHE HAZARD RATINGS 

AVALANCHE TRAINING FOR DOGS 

INFO ON THE PAGE OWNERS 

 

 

 
 
 

 INTRODUCTION... 
  • some basic characteristics of avalanche
    Avalanches run in the same paths year after year, that's how the danger zones are often being well known in normal circumstances, although exceptional weather at intervals of many years may produce different avalanches which overrun their normal paths and may even break new ones where none existed for centuries. Unwise timber removal in alpine terrain can also create avalanches where none existed before. Even short slopes like the walls of a ravine can become dangerous, as given exceptional snow conditions, snow avalanche may fall anywhere that enough snow is deposited in the right circumstances on an inclined surface. 

    Although these right circumstances sometimes consist of abnormally large snowfalls, but it is not neccessarily so. Avalanches find their genesis in snow cover structural weaknesses which are often caused by internal changes. If anchored to a solid underlayer, large overburden of snow alone may not result in avalanches. On the other hand, if poorly bonded, even a shallow snow layer can slide from the mountainside. Avalanches are a complex problem in mechanical stability which can best be understood in terms of the physical processes taking place in the changeable winter snow and the dependence of these on temperature. 

 

 
Picture Gallery
In this section, you will get to see pictures of avalanches happening worldwide...dated from the 1900s...
Maps of avalanche-affected areas
Click on the globe to see frequently hit places...