TheSnowpit.com News Blog

• Avalanche claims three in Tibet
• Fatal fall on Taylor Glacier, Colorado
• Surrey man rescues solo climber on Mount Baker from crevasse
• Montana Ham radio operater picks up injured hiker's call in Washington

Despite winter still playing hookie here in Canada, avalanche danger is always present out in the Himalaya. Three Japanese climbers perished in an avalanche on Kulagangri; they were part of a larger team of seven. Apparently, the snow had been very heavy during the ascent.

But heavy snow isn't always the issue. A man slipped on Tuesday while skiing the late-season ice on the Taylor Glacier in RMNP, Colorado. He suffered fatal injuries. His friends, who were the first to find him, actually mounted a search themselves when he didn't return on time.

On a lighter note, an avalanche actually seemed to serve a minor positive role in a rescue. A solo hiker on Mount Baker fell into a crevasse September 15, and was later (miraculously) rescued by what appears to be brute strength on the part of another climbing pair who happened to hear his cries for help. One of the members simply climbed into the crevasse and got him out. Another pair, camped low on the glacier, awoke to the sound of avalanche and, while looking for the source, saw the rescue proceeding down the glacier. When the climbing pair and injured man reached their tent, they were ready.

Finally, only weakly related to snow but still cool, a Montana ham radio operator happened to receive the distress calls of a man hiking in the Cascades in late September. Using the 40 meter band, the Montanan was able to get the GPS coordinates and condition of the man in the Cascades, who had broken his leg. The transmissions, though spanning over 600 km, helped get the injured man out just after a major snowstorm.

The last few weeks have brought about a number of notable ice collapses, not the least of which included the serac collapse on K2. The unfortunate trend continued with an avalanche on Mont Blanc. The eight bodies of those encased by the avalanche were found presumably via beacon signals (called 'special homing devices' by the media) in a crevasse under more than 160 feet of ice.

Of course, as collapsing snow goes, ice and serac collapses - especially those associated with glaciers - are especially unpredictable. They show little variation over hours and seasons, and are of such mass that the humans involved, rather than being triggers, are sometimes just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Another recent incident - that of two teenage boys being under a collapsing ice cave - serves as a good example. Though they survived, the weight of the collapsing ice from above was enough to break their backs.

Such incidents are always called into question as being indicative of global warming, the ever present whipping boy for modern media. Indeed, as North America finished its worst avalanche season on record, the Mont Blanc incident has pushed the Alps toward their worst avalanche season in over 30 years, and due press attention has been given to both the seasons and speculation, my site included. Although unlucky avalanche seasons should have their occasional return periods just as climax avalanches do, the media does not always draw a clean line between collapsing ice and sliding snow.

In addition, focus always gets paid to the activity of the ice sheets at the poles. Earlier in the year, we saw a great deal of attention given to the Antarctic ice sheet collapse, and now a huge section of ice in Greenland has followed suit. The collapse has also introduced a large crack into the Greenland ice sheet, which has caused all sorts of wild speculation about how much of Greenland will disintegrate in the near future. Interesting as, according to the article, "Scientists blamed global warming for the collapse" of the Antarctic ice sheet, but as for the more recent Greenland collapse:

University of Colorado professor Konrad Steffen, who returned from Greenland on Wednesday and who has studied the Petermann Glacier, said that what Dr Box saw was not too different from what he saw in the 1990s: "The crack is not alarming. I would say it is normal."