90 Avalanche

CHAPTER 1 The Worst Avalanche in US History IN THE COLD WINTER OF 1910, TRAlNS RUNNING THROUGH THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS IN WASHINGTON STATE WERE AT RISK OF ACCIDENTS. DEEP SNOW FELL ON THE TRACKS... By February 21, snow was falling so heavily that it threatened to block the train lines. Managers of the Great Northern Railway Company were sent out to examine the situation. No one imagined the storms could last much longer, so the company decided the No. 25 passenger train and the No. 27 mail train could continue their journeys. They believed their snowplows would keep the lines clear.

However, a snowslide had already blocked the lines at Stevens Pass. On February 23, the two trains were stuck. The trains had no dining cars, so passengers ate in the Cascade Station dining hall with the workers. The snowplows tried unsuccessfully to clear the snow. The next day, the trains were moved to the larger town of Wellington. The delay made some passengers nervous, but things got worse. An avalanche hit the kitchen and dining hall in Cascade. The cooks who had served the passengers were killed instantly. When the passengers heard about the disaster, some asked to be moved from the train to a safer location, but the town hotel was full. Snow fell all weekend, trapping the trains. There were several more avalanches. In fear of their lives, some passengers left the train and walked down the mountain to a safer place.

On February 28, a railroad employee, Joseph Pettit, led another group of passengers down the mountain. Unfortunately, the telegraph was out of action, so the remaining passengers could not be contacted. By the time Pettit returned, it was too late for them to leave. Then the storm changed. Snow was replaced by wind and rain— a perfect recipe for avalanches. At 1 a.m. on March 1, lightning hit a slab of snow above Wellington. A huge wall of snow started slipping down the hill towards the trains, which were full of sleeping passengers. Narrowly missing the town and its hotel, the avalanche struck the trains so hard that it threw them both nearly 50 meters down the mountain. Both trains were destroyed.

People rushed to the crash site to look for survivors. A few people had been thrown clear of the rail cars and the snow. Others were found buried and were dug out. Newspapers reported that 96 people were killed 35 passengers, including eight children, and 61 railroad employees, including Joseph Pettit. Many of the dead were not recovered until the snow melted. Only 23 passengers survived. In an effort to forget the disaster, Wellington was renamed Tye. Later, a tunnel was built to take trains along a safer route, away from Wellington. But without the business the railroad brought into town, the people of Wellington soon left. Even though the town no longer exists, the Wellington Railway Disaster remains a disturbing reminder of the deadly power of snow.

CHAPTER 2 What Is an Avalanche? AN AVALANCHE IS A SUDDEN. LARGE FALL OF SNOW DOWN A MOUNTAIN SLOPE. There are different types of avalanches, but they are always caused by external triggers, whether man-made or natural. Geographical Causes The formation of an avalanche depends on several things. The angle of the slope, for example, must be flat enough to allow heavy snow to form, but steep enough for the avalanche to increase speed once it is moving.

This is called the angle of repose, and it varies depending on the type of snowflake that has fallen. Colder, drier snow needs a shallower slope, whereas warm, wet snow can stick to very steep surfaces. Most avalanches form between an angle of 25 and 60 degrees. Weather Conditions Weather plays a big role. Snow and rain increase the risk of an avalanche. Heavy blizzards add a large weight of fresh snow to the existing snow and can cause large pieces to break off. Rainstorms add to the weight of the water. They also weaken the existing layers as the rainwater sinks through the snow. The combination of sun and rain can cause thin layers of ice, called crusts, to form between the other layers. These crusts stop the snow layers from bonding, and this makes an avalanche more likely.