“Winter of Terror” (1950-51): 265 Avalanche Deaths in the Alps In the winter of 1950-51, a previously unrecorded number of avalanches rocked the Swiss-Austrian Alps, killing over 265 people in the span of three months. Coined the “Winter of Terror”, this series of 649 avalanches destroyed over 900 buildings and thousands of acres of forests. This period is thought to be a result of atypical weather conditions in the Alps: high precipitation due to the meeting of an Atlantic warm front, with a polar cold front resulted in 10-15 ft of snowfall in a two-to-three-day period. Over 40,000 people were buried under snow over the 1950-51 season. Avalanche ameliatraynor | February 18, 2015 8 Comments
Mayor Tells Bostonians to Stop Jumping from Windows After four huge storms have slammed Boston with 8 feet of snow, the city’s residents are starting to get a little stir-crazy. A new social media challenge has spread: the #BostonBlizzardChallenge has “daredevils” leaping from windows into the enormous snow piles below. Mayor Martin Walsh made a statement earlier this week asking residents to “stop their nonsense” and act responsibly.“It’s a foolish thing to do and you could kill yourself,” he said. ameliatraynor | February 18, 2015 1 Comment
NASA: US Could Face “Megadroughts” This Century While California’s drought pushes into its fourth year, we ain’t seen nothing yet. The severe drought in the U.S. Southwest pales in comparison to what’s coming: a “megadrought” that will grip that region later this century and could last for decades, says NASA: NASA Study Finds Carbon Emissions Could Dramatically Increase Risk of U.S. Megadroughts February 12, 2015: Droughts in the U.S. Southwest and Central Plains during the last half of this […] Weather ameliatraynor | February 17, 2015 7 Comments
Fenway Park Buried in 3 Feet of Snow With just two months until opening day, the Red Sox better pray for warm weather. Fenway Park is buried under 3 to 4 feet of snow, following Boston’s snowiest 30-day period in history. While the Red Sox head down to Fort Myers for spring training, Boston will be digging out after another storm on Saturday and Sunday. Huge amounts of snow have made for rare avalanche conditions in snow piles on the streets of Boston. Bean Town has seen almost 72 inches in the span of 18 days, making it the ninth snowiest winter in the city’s history. ameliatraynor | February 13, 2015 2 Comments
“Avalanche Conditions” in Boston A huge dump in Boston is creating avalanche conditions adjacent to sidewalks. From an email, “It’s actually a pretty scary situation here in Boston, there’s a pretty a serious instability in the snow pack, we’re seeing these massive avalanche crowns, and anything on even moderate slopes are sliding with minimal pressure. It’s so rare in the east that people don’t know how to handle it, notice a few pics of the large crown’s I took. We’re experiencing these massive slides into already shoveled sidewalks and roads, and people are […] Avalanche ameliatraynor | February 12, 2015 3 Comments
“Dress for the Weather” | Wetsuit Skiing at Whistler When the temps at Whistler haven’t dropped below freezing in a week, sometimes you just gotta whip out your wetsuit… Whistler forecast: 80-140mm of rain. Freezing line: 2100m Whistler Peak elevation: 2182m Dress for the weather. ameliatraynor | February 11, 2015 1 Comment
New from DPS Cinematic | “Inversions” DPS Skis is proud to present Inversions, the fourth film in The Shadow Campaign series. Presented by DPS Cinematic in association with Outdoor Research and Gore-Tex, Inversions features DPS Koalas, Olof Larsson, Santi Guzman, and Piers Solomon. Baldface Lodge, nestled in interior British Columbia, is renowned for harboring some of the worlds finest powder. ameliatraynor | February 10, 2015 0 Comments
FATMAP: Hi-Res 3D Ski Mapping App Launches in the Alps FATMAP, a new ultra-high resolution 3D ski mapping app, officially launched this week at three European resorts. The app offers unprecedented accuracy and detail, with a resolution of 2m (compared to google maps’ 30m), as well as numerous other features that are “set to revolutionize skiing and snowboarding”, say the creators. Detailed freeride mapping shows exactly where the hidden off-piste lines are, including […] ameliatraynor | February 10, 2015 0 Comments
Amelia Traynor
Avalanche
Weather
