Controlling the chaos: The art of avalanche control by Pete Kimball, Outpost contributor   Also In This Package Skiing Tahoe Injuries on the Hill Ski Patrol Training The importance of avalanche control lies in the fact that if not tended to, possible avalanche areas could unleash a torrent of snow that could devastate a ski area and result in many casualties. This occurred in 1982 at the Alpine Meadows ski area and resulted in seven deaths, including the head of their ski patrol. Phil Caterino began training ski patrols in avalanche control in the early 70s and has been active in it ever since. He sees the need for a delicate balance between the intuitive and analytical processes that go into avalanche control. The intuitive process of avalanche control requires a patrol members knowledge of the mountain to let them know when and where an avalanche might occur. The analytical approach uses databases that catalog everything form weather conditions to type of snow pack to predict a slide. Caterino, who also helps produce the Cyberspace Snow and Avalanche Center Web site, said that it would be foolish for somebody to ignore either the intuitive or the analytical approach when working on avalanche control. Caterino said a mountain manager who is new to a ski   A Kirkwood Ski patrol member skiing along an avalanche route. Photo courtesy of Alpengroup. area will have to develop the intuitive side of predicting avalanche control, but databases will give him the information that he needs to be successful even without the knowledge of the mountain and its tendencies. Travis Lark, a former ski patrol member at the Mt. Rose Ski Area, said cornices, an overhanging mass of snow and ice that sits along the top of a ridge, is the main thing he looked for when doing avalanche control. When he saw a cornice, he would drop an explosive charge about 15 feet below it to knock the snow holding it up out from under it and cause a "controlled" slide. Posted Dec. 4, 1997 Copyright 1997 Nevada Outpost TOP | PREVIOUS | NEXT Nevada Outpost is produced by students at the Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno Copyright 1999 Nevada Outpost http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost