Danger from Above
Avalanches can reach 320 km/h (200miles/h)
January 11, 1954, in Blons, Austria
Blons is a little village in West Austria. On a winter morning when a snowstorm was coming down for a few hours, a first avalanche strike the village at 10 a.m.
As one survivor, Robert Dobner, says, it was the beginning of a day he would describe as “a dark Monday, so full of snow”.
The power of the avalanche buried 82 and killed 34 people. A few hours later, as rescuers were helping the survivors, a second avalanche hit the village at 7 p.m.
125 people died in this event, and 1/3 of the village was destroyed. This is one of the most deadly avalanches in Europe.
But did you know that today, 90% of the victims triggered the avalanche that killed them.
How it happened
Slab Avalanches occur when the upper layer slides over a lower layer.
Every time snow falls on a slope, it forms layers on top of the previous ones. Each of…
