Avalanche records. Avalanches of rare recurrence that spread far beyond the mineral cone of a given avalanche are considered catastrophic.

Avalanches give a signal Candidate of Physics and Mathematics. Sciences V. Psalomshchikov, a geophysicist by profession, until 1991 was directly involved in short-term methods for forecasting avalanches, as well as movements of mountain glaciers. According to him, the Minister of Emergency Situations S. Shoigu is not entirely right when he claims that

AVALANCHES AND LANDSLADES THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE OF RECORDED AVALANCHES AND LANDSLADES GEOGRAPHY Alps 218 BC Tyrol, 1915–1918 Austria Blons, 1954 Montafon Valley, 1689 Brazil Rio de Janeiro, 1966, 1967 Haiti Burley, 1954 Grand Riviera du Nord Honduras Holoma, 1973 India Assam, 1948

4. AVALANCHES AND LANDSLADES Avalanches and landslides are secondary phenomena caused by natural disasters such as heavy snowfalls, monsoon showers, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes. For an avalanche to occur, an insufficiently strong foundation is needed. Gathered at

The famous French avalanche researcher Pierre Monsan describes the impressions of a man caught in an avalanche in Chamonix in the Alps.

“My partner and I were working on repairing a lift support in the middle of a slope. At night there was heavy snowfall and a strong wind blew. Snow cover increased greatly, but no one, out of stupidity, attached any importance to this. Suddenly there was a sharp crash. I raised my head and saw how a transverse crack formed in the upper part of the slope on a white field and a huge snow slab broke off and rushed down. We barely had time to jump off the support. A low roar was heard and the shock wave knocked him off his feet. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a falling lift support.

The next moment it seemed as if there was a continuous snowstorm all around, fine prickly snow filled the eyes, ears, mouth and nose. It was impossible to breathe; something heavy, like a bear, fell on me and dragged me down. After a few seconds, the movement stopped, I could hardly blink: there was absolute darkness all around, it was impossible to determine where was up and where was down.

I tried to free myself from the weight that had fallen on me, but I only buried myself deeper in the snow. Gradually the snow became more and more dense, hardening and turning into ice. Mortal horror seized me, the icy shell was impenetrable. Suddenly the movement resumed, I was turned over my head, the sense of space was lost. A minute later the snow flow stopped, it became easier to breathe, I realized that I had been carried to the surface.”

When Pierre was caught in an avalanche, the radio beacon automatically turned on, so rescuers arrived at the scene of the disaster within an hour. He could not walk because he had broken his leg and was also very cold. Unfortunately, the partner's radio beacon did not turn on. Rescuers searched for him for several days and finally found him using an avalanche cord, a long red ribbon tied to his belt. The unfortunate man was already dead, although he dug a small tunnel right in front of him, trying to get out, so that his hands were torn into blood. Unfortunately, there was not enough air and he died of suffocation. The death of his friend and the terrible moments he suffered in the avalanche made an indelible impression on Monsan. He graduated from the Sorbonne with a degree in Meteorology and began studying avalanches.

A snow avalanche is a fast-moving landslide of snow from the side of a mountain or hill. Avalanches are capable of moving at a speed of 20 - 30 meters per second; the snow mass gains this speed within 5 seconds after the start of movement. Wet snow avalanches move slightly slower, covering about 7 meters

in a second. An avalanche of loose snow begins at one point, and it expands as it moves. These avalanches are the least dangerous and usually do not bury their victims deep in the snow, but they can push a person off a steep cliff or cliff. The most dangerous are slab avalanches. They consist of hard frozen crust. Often the victim himself causes it, traversing the slope and cutting the snow.

A crack forms across the slope, and a huge slab of snow slides down like a glass plate from an inclined surface. Ice avalanches form when a glacier reaches a steep slope. Glaciers flow down the slopes of mountains, like rivers, under the influence of gravity. When they encounter a sharp cliff on their way, pieces of ice break off and fall down at great speed. Ice avalanches, unlike snow avalanches, are not associated with weather factors, air temperature, wind, etc.

The next type of avalanche is caused by the fall of snow cornices, which often form on mountain ridges. They often look very beautiful and look like frozen ocean waves, they are shaped by the prevailing winds in the area. The snow on the eaves is very dense and therefore fragile. When the mass of the cornice exceeds a critical value, the latter breaks down.

Snow avalanches usually fall from slopes with a steepness of 30 to 45 degrees. From steeper slopes, snow usually falls in small portions before an avalanche can form. On less steep slopes, gravity is not enough to move the mass of snow.

What makes seemingly harmless snow fields suddenly break off and slide down the slope? The usual cause is rapid temperature changes and winds. With sudden warming, the top layer of snow on the slope melts; with subsequent cooling, the melted layer turns into ice. If heavy snowfall then falls, the new masses of snow will not be able to stay on the ice and will slide down. Another reason for an unexpected avalanche can be the so-called deep frost. The heat from the ground where snow falls can melt the underlying layer. The colder upper layers cause this layer to freeze. The result is a kind of ice slide.

But main reason avalanches are caused by wind. Very strong storm winds often blow in the mountains, capable of moving large masses of snow from place to place. Wind manages to sweep up 10 times more snow than heavy snowfall over the same period of time. The weight of the new snow overloads the lower layers, and an avalanche forms.

The popular myth that a loud sound can cause an avalanche is unfounded. "It's a movie-makers' invention," said Bruce Tremper, an avalanche forecaster at the Utah Avalanche Prediction Center. In his twenty years of work at the Center, there has not been a case where an avalanche was caused by a scream or the noise of a running helicopter engine. Most often, avalanches are caused either by the victim herself or someone in her company. As already mentioned, people sometimes trim a layer of snow by crossing across a mountain slope. Traces from skis and snowmobiles can also upset the delicate balance in the adhesion of a mass of snow, and then it rushes down with a roar.

Common avalanche victims include climbers, skiers, snowboarders, rock climbers and snowmobilers. The latter make up 50 percent of all victims. Usually a person caught in an avalanche does not have time to escape due to its enormous speed. An avalanche drags along fragments of rocks and trees that can injure a person. Inside the snow mass, a person's mouth and nose are instantly clogged with snow dust, so that it is impossible to breathe - 90 percent of deaths in avalanches are caused by suffocation. Immediately after the movement stops, the snow is compressed, forming a mass like concrete, and the person finds himself walled up inside a snow prison. He just can't move. An ice mask forms on the face, preventing breathing. Typically, the victim has only 30 minutes to try to escape captivity; after this time, the oxygen inside the cavity in which the avalanche is located runs out. In addition, severe hypothermia poses a mortal danger. Most often, even if rescuers manage to dig out the victims, they are already dead.

Since the 50s, the number of avalanche victims has been constantly increasing, mainly due to the fact that mountain recreation is becoming more and more popular, and the number of ski resorts is steadily growing. In the 90s, the number of deaths from white death doubled due to the invention of snowboarding and the snowmobile. Here are some newspaper headlines for last year related to avalanches: “Avalanche in New England kills two skiers”, “White death in Italian Alps”, “British girl rescued in Mont Blanche”. Snow monsters continue to collect tribute around the world.

Ivan RYBAKOV

CATASTROPHIC AND ESPECIALLY LARGE AVALANCHES

Seliverstov Yu.G.

Research Laboratory of Snow Avalanches and Mudflows, Faculty of Geography, Moscow State University

Avalanches of rare recurrence, spreading far beyond the mineral cone of a given avalanche source, as well as avalanches that caused significant material damage and human casualties are considered catastrophic (2).

The recurrence of avalanches significantly exceeding the normal size for the source is determined from observational data, historical chronicles and calculations and can be extremely rare. For example, the recurrence period of the avalanche that destroyed part of the village of Bleie in Norway on January 27, 1994 is estimated by experts at 800 - 1000 years, and the avalanche that destroyed the village of Flatheri in Iceland on October 26, 1995 is up to 2000 years (5).

The collapse of such unique avalanches occurs with an optimal combination of many avalanche formation factors, and most often accompanies extreme snowfalls. Thus, 4 snowfalls, which provoked massive avalanches in the Alpine countries in January - February 1999, created an increase in freshly fallen snow up to 500 - 700 cm. The northwest wind during snowfalls contributed to the formation of even more significant accumulations of snow on the leeward slopes. With each new snowfall, the size of avalanches and their destructive effect increased. In Switzerland, in the canton of Wallis alone, more than 200 particularly large avalanches were recorded between February 19 and 25. Many avalanches affected areas considered avalanche-safe - the range of their release exceeded all calculated values. Similar weather conditions that caused a similar scale of mass avalanches, according to the Swiss Institute for Snow Avalanche Research (10), occurred only in December 1808 and February 1720. In Norway, the frequency of winters with particularly large avalanches, the cause of which is a combination of storm winds, intense snowfalls at low air temperatures is 11–13 years (5). In Transbaikalia, mass avalanches reaching far to the bottom of the main valley are observed on average once every 10-20 years (1). According to the USSR Avalanche Cadastre in the mountains of Sakhalin and Kamchatka, thaws are added to the leading factors of catastrophic avalanches - snowfalls and blizzards, and rain in Altai.

In populated areas, avalanches of rare frequency, often unexpected according to calculations, lead to significant destruction of buildings, power lines, and the filling of roads and railways. More than $20 million was spent in the vicinity of Galtür (Austria) on avalanche protection - the construction of snow fences.However, on February 23, 1999, a collapse occurred on an undeveloped section of the slope that was considered safe. Government officials cited centuries-old chronicles that made no mention of avalanches in this area. The last disaster in the Galtür region (the village was completely wiped off the face of the Earth by an avalanche, killing more than 250 people) occurred in 1689. Even in 1907, when the local snow cover thickness record was set at 201 cm, no avalanches occurred. For these reasons, tourists are being evacuated from Galtür. was not intended as a priority measure. ABOUTAt about 4 o'clock in the afternoon an avalanche hit the very center of the village. The width of the affected area was about 500 meters. Destroyed buildings and crushed cars became the scene of death of 31 people (9).

Avalanches that cause casualties in most cases are provoked by the victims themselves. According to the Canadian Avalanche Association (7), 83% of avalanches that caused the death of tourists in this country were caused by human factors. Data from many avalanche services around the world indicate that avalanche danger at the time of death of most victims (for example, in Italy 60% avalanches with victims) was significant - corresponded to 3 points on a 5-point risk assessment scale. In this case, the probability of an avalanche collapse is assessed as follows: avalanches are possible with a slight additional load on the indicated slopes; the collapse of individual medium and, less often, large avalanches is possible. With the highest degree of avalanche danger - exceptional - the number of victims is usually small - the influence of the avalanche control measures taken is felt.

The leading condition for avalanches in cases of death is the presence of a snow board. For example, in Canada, 85% of avalanches were dry and 10% wet. Moreover, its thickness often did not exceed 10 cm. Snowfall and blizzards at the time of avalanche collapse are an optional condition - 56% of avalanches occurred in the absence of precipitation and about 50% in light winds. The angle of inclination in the separation zone of more than 40% of avalanches was 31 - 35 o, and about 10% was less than 25 o. The majority of avalanches that caused the death of tourists occurred on slopes that were either completely devoid of vegetation or with sparse trees, and only 11% of avalanches occurred below the forest line.

The size of particularly large avalanches varies among different mountain regions and depends on geomorphology and meteorological conditions. The maximum volumes of recorded avalanches are 1.125 million m 3 in the Khibiny Mountains, 5.9 million m 3 in the Caucasus, 1.4 million m 3 in Altai, and about 1 million m 3 in Kamchatka (1). The mentioned avalanches in Bleie and Flatery had volumes of about 1 million m3 and 405 thousand m3, respectively. The angle between the line connecting the starting and ending points of the avalanches and the horizontal line was in the last two cases 20° and 19°, and the run length was 3600 and 1850 m, respectively (5). It should be noted that when particularly large avalanches form, the entire source is not necessarily involved - the avalanche separation area in the Bleie area was 50,000 m2, despite the fact that the total area of ​​the accumulation zone is 360,000 m2.

According to the USSR Avalanche Cadastre, in Altai the maximum total travel length for catastrophic avalanches was 2500 m, in Transbaikalia - 2220 m, on Sakhalin - 2500, in the mountains of North-East Russia - 1400 m.

It is believed that on the slopes an avalanche with a volume of more than 10 m 3 poses a danger to human life. Most casualties occur in small avalanches. For example, the avalanche that claimed the lives of 12 schoolchildren in the village of Omsukchan in the North-East of Russia in the winter of 1982 had a volume of 5500 m 3. An average statistical image of a catastrophic avalanche that claims lives was obtained by K. Kechina, a student at the Department of Cryolithology and Glaciology of Moscow State University. In the 2001-02 season. it was an avalanche of freshly fallen snow, the collapse of which occurred from a slope of 31-35 o at altitudes of 2500 - 3000 m, and the ejection range did not exceed 500 m, in which a “backcountry” skier aged 20 - 30 years died.

However, cases of mass loss of life and significant damage are associated with particularly large avalanches. According to the Turkish researcher I. Gürer (6), the range of avalanches in cases of the most significant disasters in Turkey ranged from 2000 to 4000 m or more, the volume was up to 1.7 million m 3, and the thickness of the rubble reached 10 m.

On average, about 350 people die from avalanches worldwide each year. However, in some years the average may be significantly exceeded. So, in the 1991/92 season. In Turkey alone, the number of victims of four avalanches was 328 people. On March 26, 1997, a single avalanche killed more than 100 motorists in Afghanistan. The geography of avalanche disasters is extensive (Fig. 1, Fig. 2) (Data with the known date of the avalanche are provided). Several cases of mass death in avalanches have brought Afghanistan to first place in the number of victims. Next, with a constant increase in the death toll, is the United States. The high figures for the Alpine countries are partly explained by the high number of casualties in the winter of 1998/99.

It is difficult to estimate the total damage from avalanches. Some data allow us to imagine the scale of the phenomenon. In the 1998/99 season. In Switzerland alone, about 1,200 avalanches caused damage in excess of CHF 600 million. An avalanche on January 18, 1993 in Anatolia (Turkey) caused damage in excess of $3 million, and in the 1991/92 season, avalanches destroyed 726 houses there, totaling $12 million in damage. In Iceland in 1995, an avalanche in Flatheri completely destroyed 16 houses and significantly damaged 14, and damage from the avalanche in Sydavik amounted to about $3 million. Annual direct damage - destruction of buildings - in Canada in the period 1979 - 1984. was $350,000. Here, by the end of the century, the damage gradually decreased as avalanche control measures were introduced.

Every year in Russia, on average, more than 20 people die in avalanches. At the same time, 1-2 people die in snow avalanches in flat areas. Several more people annually become victims of snow eaves collapses from roofs and window sills. The largest avalanche disasters in Russia include the events of the winter of 1992-93. in the Caucasus, when 56 people died in the area of ​​the Trans-Caucasus Highway alone. The annual direct economic damage from avalanches at the end of the 80s was estimated for the USSR at tens of millions of rubles, for Russia it is 20, and a possible one-time loss is 200 million dollars (3). The frequency of avalanches in Russia is 2.5% of the total number of dangerous natural phenomena. The damage could be immeasurably higher, however, avalanche-prone areas in Russia are sparsely populated. According to our calculations, the population density in avalanche-prone areas of Russia is less than 2 people per 1 sq. km. For comparison, in avalanche-prone areas of the Alps it reaches 75 people per 1 sq. km.

8 Russian cities are under immediate threat of avalanches. In another 36 cities there is a danger to communications. The number of small settlements exposed to the danger of avalanches is quite numerous.

The most famous avalanche disaster in Russia occurred on December 5, 1935 in the Khibiny Mountains. Two avalanches that struck the city of Yukspor, one after another, caused significant destruction in the mining village and the death of 88 people. This event became the impetus for the start of systematic scientific research into avalanches in our country. Cases of death in avalanches have been reported in almost all mountainous regions of the country, as well as in flat areas - only in recent years in Nizhny Novgorod and near Novosibirsk two children died in snow avalanches.

In the 30s - 60s, avalanches most often overtook their victims in buildings and on roads. Modern studies of the statistics of deaths in avalanches show an increase in the proportion of tourists. And in countries where it snows profitable business, displacing all other types economic activity, tourists traveling on slopes often outside the service areas of snow avalanche services dominate the list of victims. At the same time, the number of victims increases from year to year. In the USA, snowmobilers (35%), skiers (25%) and climbers (23%) predominate among those killed in avalanches; in Canada, skiers (43%), snowmobilers (20%), climbers (14%), in Switzerland skiers and climbers (88%). The number of victims among snowboarders and snowmobilers who choose slopes outside the avalanche service area for skiing is growing everywhere. And only in the winter of 1998-1999. the balance has changed - 122 people killed in avalanche disasters in the world (63% of the total number of victims) were in buildings and on the road at the time of the avalanche collapse - most often they were local residents. The decrease in the number of victims from avalanches among the local population in alpine countries is largely due to the widespread use of avalanche control measures to protect populated areas and communications. In poorer countries, the bulk of the victims are local residents. Almost every year, major disasters with dozens of casualties occur in the area of ​​the Salang Pass in Afghanistan, and deaths on roads in Tajikistan are frequent. In Turkey, most casualties are caused by avalanches that strike populated areas. Thus, an avalanche from the slope of Karakaya on January 18, 1993 destroyed 85 houses and killed 59 people in the village of Yuzengili (Türkiye). In India and Pakistan, military personnel are more likely to die in avalanches. Statistics of victims by type of activity in recent years are shown in Figure 3.

A comparative indicator of damage is the number of people per avalanche casualty. Switzerland, Austria, Tajikistan and Afghanistan are leaders in this indicator (Fig. 4). According to data from the mid-80s, 1 person out of 250,000 died in Switzerland; at the same time, according to long-term data from Russian researchers in the Magadan region, where, like in Switzerland, avalanche-prone areas make up about 50% of the territory, 1 victim accounted for 120 000 people. The higher degree of avalanche activity in Switzerland is compensated by the very low population density in North-East Russia, and the difference is explained by the higher degree of protection of the population of Switzerland due to the use of a variety of avalanche control measures. National disasters for Iceland, which has a population of only 280,000 people, were the avalanches on January 13, 1995, which destroyed part of the small town of Sydjavik in northwestern Iceland, killing 14 people, mostly children, and on October 26, 1995 in Flatea, when they died 20 people.

World statistics 1996 – 2002 shows that in 58% of cases of avalanches that led to death, there was 1 victim, and only 15% were cases of simultaneous death of 4 or more people. Fortunately, not everyone caught in an avalanche dies. According to snow avalanche services in Italy, since the 1986/87 season. in 511 cases of people falling into avalanches - 303 deaths, in Canada in 579 incidents from 1984 to 1996. 114 people died; in New Zealand, out of 180 skiers caught in 80 avalanches, 37 people died.

Research by scientists at the Swiss Institute for Snow Avalanche Research (10) shows that the direct causes of death in avalanches are: in 46.2% of cases - asphyxia, in 42.9% - body damage and in 6.6% - hypothermia. Those not found in the avalanche in the first half hour have only a 50% chance of salvation. After 3 hours, the chance of being rescued drops to 10%.

Faced with the destructive effects of avalanches, humanity gradually developed countermeasures. History contains a mention of the first anti-avalanche event - in 1652, in the Swiss town of Avers, a certain witch was burned, who sent avalanches on the heads of local residents.

Currently, there are seven types of avalanche control measures (4).

1. Passive preventive measures, including assessing the avalanche danger of the territory, regulating economic activities, protecting and reproducing forests, stopping people from accessing avalanche zones, and forecasting avalanches. Avalanche forecasts can be made for individual slopes based on the results of testing the snow thickness. When forecasting for an area, they are used as statistical methods– methods of pattern recognition (in the USSR, discriminant analysis was most often used), expert systems in which some forecasting rules are formalized, and calculation systems – in which a computer, receiving current meteorological information as input, calculates the forecast values ​​of snow-meteorological characteristics for any point in the region, calculates the structure of the snow layer and its stability and, as a result, gives a forecast of avalanche danger. The latter include the Safran-Crocus-Mepra chain of models created in France and the Swiss model Snowpack. Expanding use of funds personal protection– radio beacons, airbags, etc.

2. Active preventive measures, consisting of systematic artificial collapse of snow from avalanche-prone slopes. For these purposes, 160-mm mortars are used in the Khibiny Mountains, 100-mm anti-aircraft guns are used in the North Caucasus, pneumatic guns - “avalanchers” are used in the USA and many other countries; in France, the Gazex system has been developed, which supplies a gas mixture to avalanche collection, which explodes when ignited. Every year, in the Alps alone, up to one hundred thousand or more active impacts on avalanche slopes are carried out.

3. Regulation of blizzard snow deposits through the construction of snow collection and snow blowing structures.

4. Artificial retention of snow on avalanche-prone slopes through the construction of snow-retaining shields and nets, terracing and afforestation of slopes.

5. Changing the direction of avalanche paths using avalanche cutters and guide dams.

6. Reducing the speed and range of avalanches with the help of avalanche-braking pyramids, gouges and other avalanche extinguishers.

7. Passing avalanches over the protected object.

The feasibility of using a particular event is determined both by the natural conditions of the region and by economic feasibility. There are also certain contraindications for use - as experience shows, it is not always possible to limit the size of avalanches using active influences. As a rule, the greatest efficiency is achieved when using the complex various events. In the Alpine countries, to protect populated areas and linear objects, preference is given to the construction of engineering structures. In Austria, where 1,023 avalanche outbreaks directly threaten populated areas, a significant part of them are completely built up with avalanche control structures. Engineering structures that ensure high reliability require significant material costs. For example, in Switzerland, from 1952 to 1998, about 1.2 billion Swiss francs were invested in the construction of avalanche control structures. The costs of survey work and the forecast of the descent time are significantly lower. Thus, the budget of the avalanche center in Gallatin (Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, USA) in the 1998/99 season. was $89,600.

LITERATURE

1. Geography of avalanches. Ed. Myagkova S.M., Kanaeva L.A. Moscow State University Publishing House, 1992, 331 p.

2. Glaciological dictionary. L.: Gidrometeoizdat, 1984. 526 p.

3. Kurbatova A.S., Myagkov S.M., Shnyparkov A.L. Natural risk for Russian cities. M. Research Institute of Urban Ecology. 1997, 240 p.

4. Troshkina E.S., Voitkovsky K.F. Predictive assessment of the effectiveness of avalanche control measures. In the book: Snow cover in the mountains and avalanches. M.: Science. 1987, pp. 137 – 143

5. 25 Years of Snow Avalanche Research. Norges Geotekniske Institut. Pub. NR203. Oslo, 1998. 300 p.

6. Gurer I. Statistics on avalanche accidents in

6. Gurer I. Statistics on avalanche accidents in Turkey (1950 – 2001). Materials of glaciological research. 2003, issue 94. pp. 143-148.

7. URL: http://www.avalanche.ca.

8. URL: http://www.csac.org

9. URL :// http :// www . lawine. at.

10. URL: http://www.slf.ch.

*** Avalanches of rare recurrence that extend far beyond the mineral cone of a given avalanche source, as well as avalanches that cause significant material damage and human casualties, are considered catastrophic.

A complete inventory of avalanche disasters has not yet been created, but chronicles, manuscripts, books and human memory have preserved for us descriptions of many cases of death due to avalanches.

The longest record of avalanche disasters is in the Alps. The first authentic medieval document reported the death in an avalanche of part of the retinue of Bishop Rudolf, who on Christmas Day 1129 was heading to Rome through the Great St. Bernard Pass. Since the 15th century, chronicles increasingly mention avalanche disasters in the Alps.

The historian Titus Livius (59 BC - 17 AD) mentions avalanches in his descriptions of Alexander the Great’s campaigns in the mountains of Central Asia and through the Hindu Kush to India. The first mention of avalanches in the Himalayas in Indian literature is found in the poem “Megahdut” (“Cloud Messenger”), written by Kalidasa (c. 5th century): “The Himalayas, which have enormous advantages, including precious minerals, have one drawback - avalanches . But this flaw is invisible among other values, just as spots on the Moon do not diminish the light that emanates from it."

In his “History,” the Roman historian Polybius (2nd century BC) wrote about the Carthaginian campaign through the Alps: “But when Hannibal’s troops reached one narrow place where neither elephants nor pack animals could pass, an avalanche fell, and the morale of the troops fell." Hannibal had no idea what a terrible and invincible enemy his army would meet in the Alps. Huge avalanches buried so many of his warriors here at once, more than he had lost in any of the bloodiest battles. Hannibal almost lost the war to the Romans because of this!

In Europe, avalanche disasters are by no means exclusive to the Alps. For a long time now, a record of victims has been kept in Iceland. Even in the sagas, it was reported that 5 people died in 1118, and on December 24, 1613, 50 inhabitants died on the island at once. Since 1800, the number of avalanche victims has reached almost 500 people, 470 buildings have been destroyed, and 3,500 heads of livestock have been destroyed.

IN Norway in 1679, up to 500 people died in avalanches, and in 1755 - about 200. A major avalanche disaster occurred in 1886, when the white death, as avalanches in the Alps are called, killed 161 people. In one of the last disasters, in the winter of 1955/56, 30 people died. Avalanche disasters that occurred in the last century are repeatedly mentioned in monastic manuscripts Bulgaria.

And yet the Alps remain the main place of rampant white death.

1799
I had to deal with avalanches in the Alps and Russians. In the fall of 1799, an army led by A.V. Suvorov marched from Italy to Switzerland. At the avalanche-prone St. Gotthard Pass and in the narrow mountain valley on the way to the Devil's Bridge, the army suffered minor losses from avalanches. Not far from the Devil's Bridge, in a niche carved into a steep mountain slope, there is a monument to Suvorov's soldiers. In winter, it is annually blocked by avalanches.

In 1885, one of the largest avalanches occurred in the Italian Alps - with a volume of 3.5 million cubic meters.

In our century, the greatest human losses from avalanches occurred in the Tyrolean Alps, during the First World War of 1915-1918, on the Austro-Italian front. According to approximate data, from 40,000 to 80,000 people died from them. Set in motion by explosions, the roar of technology and other sounds of war, avalanches descended along the slopes of the Alps one after another. Villages like Marmolada were buried under them, where on one day about 235 people were buried in their homes. December 16, 1916 remains in memory as “Black Thursday.” On this day, more than 6 thousand soldiers were buried in avalanches. In total, during the difficult winter of 1916/17, more than 10 thousand people became victims of avalanches.

Ernest Hemingway, who was an excellent skier and was on the Austro-Italian front in the Alps during the First World War, wrote about avalanches: “Winter avalanches have no nicknames. They are sudden, terrible and deadly."

Subsequently, in the Alps more than once - in 1917, 1919, 1923, 1925, 1931, 1935, 1945, 1951, 1954, 1968, 1975 - there were winters with heavy snowfalls, blizzards and avalanches, but not a single winter claimed so many victims, What is "Black Thursday" December 16, 1916?

1951
More than 50 years ago, the Alps in Switzerland and Austria were damaged by a terrible avalanche. The mass of snow came down in a matter of seconds, literally sweeping away everything possible in its path. This avalanche was included in the list of the 5 worst avalanches in the world. The winter of that year is now known as the "winter of terror."

245 people died and over 45,000 were cut off from the outside world on January 20, 1951, as a result of a series of avalanches in the Swiss, Austrian and Italian Alps caused by the combined effects of hurricane winds and snowfalls, when wet snow lay on top of loose snow.

It was the worst natural disaster since 1915, when snow avalanches killed hundreds of Italian and Austrian soldiers. Now 245 people were killed, many villages were destroyed, and 45,000 people were cut off from the outside world for several weeks.

Even luxury resorts such as Davos, Zermatt, Arosa and Saint-Mortz could not avoid the tragedy. But perhaps the heaviest blow fell on the Swiss village of Vals, located at an altitude of 1200 meters above sea level in the most picturesque corner of the Swiss Alps. The village disappeared almost completely, 19 residents died.

The Gotthard railway line, which links Switzerland with central Europe, was out of service for a week after being blocked by incredible blocks of snow, rocks and ice. Communication lines were cut, contacts with the outside world were disrupted.

1954
The largest funeral in history (as a percentage of the local population) took place after two avalanches thundered into the small Austrian village of Blons, near the Alberga Pass, on January 11, 1954. At the same time, 111 people out of 376 village residents were buried, 29 out of 90 houses were destroyed, 300 out of approximately 600 miners who were in the Liduk mine were buried alive.

A record number of victims was caused by a double avalanche. The first descended at 9.36, the second at 19.00 on January 11.

Such catastrophic losses occurred despite the constant readiness of villagers to face avalanches. Indeed, every December the village meeting decided to move the crucifix, which stood close to the gorge. The crucifix was moved so that it would not be carried away into the gorge during bad weather or by an avalanche.

One more detail. When residents crossed the bridge over the gorge, they involuntarily stretched out into a long and sparse chain and stopped talking. They believed that if their voices or any other vibrations caused an avalanche, then the large distance between pedestrians could save their lives.

But there was no salvation. Of those trapped under the snow, 33 got out on their own, 31 were dug up by rescuers alive, and 47 were taken out dead. Eight survivors of the disaster died later. The man, who had been under the snow for 17 hours, was pulled out by rescuers, but died of shock when he learned that he had been under the avalanche for such a long time. One woman suffered severe burns while under the snow. She was baking bread when an avalanche hit the house. The snow flow carried the woman, and the coals that fell from the oven burned her body. The two residents were never found. Among the survivors were people who spent up to 62 hours in snow captivity.

1968
On the morning of January 27, 1968, in a place known back in the Middle Ages for its exceptional avalanche danger In the Montafon area in Switzerland, an avalanche carrying a spruce trunk with a diameter of 50 centimeters hit the wall of the second floor of the building. The outer wall, made of brick, was 43 centimeters thick. Having broken through it, the barrel crossed the children's room, rammed a 20-centimeter thick partition and, flying past the parents' bedroom, pierced the second outer wall. A log got stuck in it, sticking out two meters. It was more like the actions of an armor-piercing shell than being hit by a log.

In Switzerland, avalanches annually destroy up to twenty residential buildings and about a hundred farmsteads and mountain huts.

1970
One of the most terrible disasters occurred in the French Alps quite recently: in 1970, an avalanche that hit a hotel in Val d'Isere killed about two hundred tourists, and demolished another children's sanatorium near Saint-Gervais, burying 80 people - children and staff.

1999
On February 23, 1999, in a cozy village in the Alps, an avalanche came down from the mountains, which will forever remain in history as one of the worst disasters in this region. In a few minutes, more than 100 thousand tons of snow moved towards a tiny settlement. At breakneck speed, the snow demolished 5 houses in its path, damaging 26. 31 people died in less than three minutes. The disaster attracted international attention.

A few days before the disaster, there was heavy snowfall of up to 30 cm per day. After which strong northwest winds blew up to 120 km/h in the mountains. The reason for the accumulation and fixation of a large mass of snow was a change in temperature from −20 degrees to +4, and then a cold snap, which fixed the snow. On February 23, a mass of snow of 170 thousand tons fell on the town (normally it should not exceed 70 thousand tons). Where the avalanche broke off the mountain, it was 4.5 meters thick at its widest point. It was a so-called powder avalanche, which is 20 times denser than air. The top layer of snow reaches speeds of up to 417 km/h. During its descent, the avalanche, like a snowball, captured the layer of snow over which it passed (the so-called “entrainment”).

USA
According to statistics, about one hundred thousand avalanches occur in the United States every year. For some regions of this country, avalanches are commonplace.

1874
In the United States, avalanche disasters became more frequent during the “gold rush,” when masses of people poured into the Rocky Mountains in search of gold and silver. In 1874, near the town of Alta, a prospecting camp was buried, in which 60 people died. The list of camps and villages destroyed by avalanches is sufficient great, but the largest avalanche disaster in the United States was associated with the construction of the transcontinental railroad through the Rocky Mountains.

1910
The most destructive avalanche in the history of the United States occurred in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state in March 1910, following heavy snowfalls. Here, at the small Wellington stop, which was located just between two snow protection galleries, there had never been avalanches before, since the steep mountain slope above the stop was covered with dense forest. But in the summer preceding this terrible winter, a forest fire destroyed the forest - a natural defense against avalanches. Nobody paid attention to this.

At the end of February, heavy snow kept three passenger trains at Wellington station for 9 days. On February 28, the snowfall was replaced by a warm wind and rain. March 1 At 1.20 a gigantic snow bank 8 meters high, 500 meters wide and 600 meters long fell off the bare mountainside and rushed towards the railway station. An avalanche struck trains and a water tower. Passenger and mail trains were carried away into a deep gorge, a train with a snowplow and seven locomotives turned into a pile of iron. Miraculously, a small station hotel survived, the inhabitants of which, grabbing shovels, with heroic efforts were able to save 22 people from the ill-fated train from under the snow and debris; the remaining passengers, of whom there were 100, died.

In the same year, but much further north, in Canada, avalanches killed 62 workers who arrived at Roger Pass in British Columbia to rescue a Trans-Canada Railway train from snow captivity, blocked by skids and avalanches.

And in our time, roads, mountain villages and mining towns in the Rocky Mountains of the USA and Canada have more than once become victims of avalanches: Twin Lakes in Colorado on January 21, 1962, Grand Duke Mine in British Columbia on February 18, 1965, the village of Terrace in the same British Columbia on January 22, 1974 and many others.

One of the most avalanche-prone towns is the town of Juno in Alaska, which is located near seven avalanche-prone slopes. Sometimes it seems that this is a fairy-tale country where snowy silence reigns, but in fact it is only the calm before a terrible storm.

The most terrible snow melting still lives in the memory of local residents. The disaster happened in 1962, when a giant slab of snow demolished 35 houses.

CANADA

1965
There is an amazingly beautiful place in British Columbia - the Cordillera. The largest mountain system on the globe, with beautiful plateaus and hundreds of deep valleys, has killed many people.

The most terrible event happened in 1965. A huge avalanche occurred over the Granduc mine, killing 26 people and injuring 22. Another 40 people could not be found in the snow.

ASIA
In most Asian countries, records of avalanche disasters are not kept. Only from time to time newspapers report about victims of avalanches on the mountain roads of Turkey and Iran, Afghanistan and Nepal, about demolished towns and villages. Most of the climbers who died while climbing Everest were torn from its slopes and buried by avalanches.

JAPAN
Avalanche disasters are very common in Japan, where in 1938 in Shiaidani an avalanche tore off the second floor of a house and smashed it into the rocks along with the 73 workers in it. In the low mountains of Japan, avalanche disasters occur almost every year.

SOUTH AMERICA
There are dwarf avalanches and giant avalanches - in terms of volume and travel distance. The biggest disasters of all time are associated with one of the scenic areas Peru in South America. Above the valley of the Saita River in the Andes chain rises Mount Huascaran, crowned with a cap of glaciers.

1962
At 6.13 am on January 10, 1962, a telephone operator in one of the remote villages suddenly saw a white swirling cloud falling from the top of the extinct Huascaran volcano. About 2 million cubic meters of snow and ice fell from the glacier covering the top of the mountain. This mass fell from an almost vertical cliff a kilometer high onto a glacier lying in the bowl of a deep cirque. Having torn off the snow from it and capturing fragments of stones, sand and pebbles along the way, the avalanche rushed towards the village of Ranrairka. Emitting a deafening roar, 13 million cubic meters of rock and ice weighing 20 million tons traveled the 18-kilometer canyon in seven minutes, burying the village of Ranrahirca along the way. Only 98 of the 2,456 inhabitants survived. Below, the avalanche destroyed 5 more small villages with all their inhabitants. In total, more than 4,000 people and 10,000 animals died. Million dollars worth of food was destroyed.

1970
On May 31, 1970, Mount Huascaran again reminded itself. This time, after the earthquake, huge masses of snow and ice again fell onto the underlying glacier, broke off part of the ice from it, and this mass rushed along the old bed to the valley of the Saita River, drawing into movement loose rocks and the water of a small lake that lay on the way.

Already 80 million cubic meters of snow, ice, boulders, sand and clay have fallen on the town of Jungau, located on the Huascaran spur. The front shaft of the collapse rose almost 90 meters above the valley level - the height of a thirty-story building. If the 1962 avalanche stopped in front of a small hill, this time the hill could not protect the city of Jungau: none of the 25,000 inhabitants of the village survived. The rebuilt village of Ranrairka was again wiped off the face of the earth. The avalanche reached the bed of the Saita River and, turning sharply, passed down the river another hundreds of meters.

Starting out like snow avalanche, it then became a snow and ice avalanche, and ended its path as a mudflow. This allows both avalanche workers and mudflow rescuers to consider it “theirs.” The Huascaran avalanche traveled 16.5 kilometers - this is a world record for the ejection distance.

RUSSIA (EMPIRE AND FEDERATION)

CAUCASUS
Stranabon wrote about avalanches on the territory of our country 2000 years ago in his “Geography”: “... and in the Caucasus, avalanches lie in wait for travelers and claim many victims.” The largest disaster of antiquity on the territory of our country was literally “excavated” by the famous avalanche specialist G.K. Tushinsky.

In the upper reaches of the Bolshoy Zelenchuk River in the Arkhyz tract at the foot of the Abishira-Akhuvba ridge, he discovered a large Alan village, which was destroyed by avalanches in the 13th century and therefore abandoned by the population. G.K. Tushinsky proved that in the 13th-14th centuries, as a result of increasingly frequent harsh and snowy winters, avalanches in the Caucasus destroyed many high-mountain villages and roads; settlements have since been located much lower on the slopes. According to Tushinsky, it was the intensification of avalanche activity that was one of the reasons for the fall of the Alan state.

The arrival of the Russians in the Caucasus could not help but confront them with white death. There is information about the death of a Russian military detachment under an avalanche in 1817 while trying to penetrate Elbrus.

The history of avalanche disasters on the Georgian Military Road is especially rich in oral and written traditions. Many avalanches have received their own names. Here, for example, is the “Majorsha” avalanche: the majorsha was driving along the road in a carriage, and her maid, who did not please her in some way, forced her to walk. The girl easily passed a dangerous place, and the rumbling, heavy carriage caused an avalanche that buried him together with the major's wife.

The “Persian” avalanche was named in memory of the delegation that died under it, which traveled to St. Petersburg to apologize for the murder of Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov, the Russian ambassador to Persia.

Already in our time, in 1932, a huge avalanche wiped out the village of Arashend in South Ossetia.

In the winter of 1942/43, Soviet soldiers defending the main passes of the Caucasus from the Nazis had to come face to face with avalanches. The soldiers were trained for combat in the mountains by famous climbers. This made it possible to avoid such losses from avalanches, which were noted on the Austrian-Italian front during the First World War. But still, individual groups of soldiers did not escape death. Fascist mountain rangers also died. A participant in the battles in the passes of the Caucasus, A. Gusev, now a professor, personally observed how a platoon of rangers crossing an avalanche-prone slope was completely swept away by an avalanche. Our climbers, who knew the mountains well, artificially caused avalanches, thus destroying enemy soldiers.

KHIBINS
One of the most famous avalanche disasters in our country occurred not in the Caucasus, but in the low, but very snow-covered Khibiny Mountains on the Kola Peninsula. Here, back in 1912, from the words of local Sami residents, a legend was written about how foreigners attacked them and they were forced to hide on the top of the mountain, where they climbed up a safe slope. The enemies began to climb the avalanche slope, onto which the wise old Sami woman threw dry sedge stems to create the impression that it was here that the Sami climbed the mountain. The snow fell and the enemies died in an avalanche.

In the early 30s, the development of rich apatite deposits began in the Khibiny Mountains. Mines, roads, communication lines and a residential village were built here. The builders were still little familiar with the nature of avalanches in these places. The most famous avalanche disaster in Russia occurred on December 5, 1935 in the Khibiny Mountains.

After a strong blizzard and snowfall, two avalanches descended on the village of Kukisvumchorr, one after another, which destroyed several one- and two-story houses, covered the railway, demolished communication lines and a high-voltage line, threw a steam locomotive off the tracks and dragged it 150 meters down the slope. 88 people died under the rubble of buildings. This event became the impetus for the start of systematic scientific research into avalanches in our country.

The energetic measures taken made it possible to avoid similar disasters at the Apatit plant in the future. Only the foundations of demolished houses that are still preserved in the village of Kukisvumchorr remind of the past tragedy. In the Khibiny, avalanches with a volume of about 500 thousand cubic meters were observed with a release range of about 2 kilometers.

The champion in ejection range in our country was an avalanche with a volume of about 1 million cubic meters, which traveled 6.5 kilometers in the valley of the Kzylcha River in the Western Tien Shan.

SAKHALIN
The largest avalanche in the mountains of Sakhalin Island came down from Chekhov Peak in the winter of 1969/70. Its volume was 200 thousand cubic meters, and its path was at least 1.6 kilometers.

TIEN SHAN and PAMIR
One thousand three hundred years ago, the Buddhist monk Xuan Tsang, crossing the Tien Shan and Pamirs, lost many of his companions under avalanches. In his book “Notes on the Countries of the West,” completed in 648, he called avalanches “snow dragons.” And now “snow dragons” prowl the Tien Shan and Pamir mountains.

There is a description of an avalanche disaster in January 1956 in the Western Tien Shan, on the northern slopes of the Kurama Range. The avalanche shot out like a cannon from a relatively small depression on a bare slope. It destroyed the middle part of a long barracks built at the foot of the slope. The avalanche, only 30 meters wide and with a volume of about 1000 cubic meters, carefully cut out the middle part of the structure, without even moving the asbestos-cement tiles on the roof at the cut points. A similar case occurred on Sakhalin Island. Here, a modern sanatorium was on the path of the avalanche. Fortunately, no one was hurt purely by accident.

In both cases, the civil engineers cannot be blamed. It was the mid-50s; There were only a few professional avalanche climbers actively working in our country. In textbooks for construction universities, several lines were devoted to avalanches. general information, which the student might not remember a few days after the exam. There was not enough experience in construction in mountainous conditions. Soviet avalanche experts in those years could not even say exactly in which mountain regions of our country avalanches regularly fall.

***This article is a compilation of information found on the Internet and does not pretend to be a scientific work.