There is no need for a towering powder cloud to make an avalanche formidable. In Christian Mermoud’s footage from Mayens-de-Saxon, in Switzerland’s Valais canton, a dense mass of snow advances with an almost unhurried appearance. Trees in its path make the force much easier to understand.
Watch Christian Mermoud’s original avalanche upload, published on January 15, 2016. The uploader identifies the location and draws attention to the snow’s power and the sound of breaking trees. The archive does not supply measurements of speed, snow volume or the conditions at the release point.
Why “slow” can be misleading
Our eyes are good at noticing speed. A large amount of moving material is harder to judge from a short video. The visible front is only one part of the flow, and snow continuing to move behind it can keep loading whatever stands in the way.
That makes the trees a more useful visual reference than the word “slow.” Watch where the moving snow meets a trunk, and how the material gathers around obstacles. The scene shows contact and displacement; it does not need an invented speed or weight to become impressive.
Can the clip identify the avalanche type?
The dense, clumped appearance has led the video to be described as a wet-snow avalanche. Appearance alone is not enough to establish every detail of a release. Without field observations, it would be misleading to diagnose the precise trigger, water content or snowpack structure from this excerpt.
The useful lesson is broader: avalanches have different appearances, and a flow that lacks the familiar airborne powder cloud can still cause serious damage. For current Swiss conditions, the SLF avalanche bulletin and snow information is the appropriate starting point, rather than an old video from a different day.
Watch from the screen, not from the runout
A camera position in a viral clip should not be interpreted as a safe viewing distance. A flow can continue, spread or be followed by more material. If an avalanche affects a road or path, respect closures and follow local emergency instructions instead of approaching for a closer recording.
For another example of slow-looking winter movement, see Dawn LaPointe’s Lake Superior ice-stacking film. It involves a different process, but similarly rewards attention to the material accumulating at the front. For mountain images with a very different mood, explore Laura Wagemakers’s snowy Alps gallery.
The trees provide a scale the snow alone cannot
A moving white surface can be difficult to judge when the background is also snow. The trees in this sequence provide fixed references: their positions, bending and disappearance make the progress of the mass visible. The sound adds information that a still photograph would leave out, connecting the apparently gradual movement with the breaking material in its path.
Speed is only one aspect of the scene. The amount of moving snow and the way it accumulates against obstacles are also important to what the viewer observes. A leisurely-looking leading edge should not be confused with a manageable object or a safe place to approach. The film’s value is precisely that it challenges the expectation that a dangerous avalanche must look like a fast powder cloud.
The clip cannot replace a snowpack assessment or establish conditions on a different slope. Its location and creator credit make it a specific recorded event. Watch the interaction with terrain and vegetation from the screen, and use the relevant avalanche service for decisions about an actual mountain outing.
Sources, photography and further reading
Original feature and image attributions:
- Unofficial Networks
- How to Survive an Avalanche?
- Massive Avalanche Thunders Down A Mountain. Watch What The Rabbit Does...
- An Avalanche Could Have Been Tragic, But Instead, These Skiers Experienced A Miracle
- That's an Interesting Video For 10 Things You Didn't Know About Avalanches
- What This Daredevil Recorded During An Avalanche Made My Heart Stop!
- Freeskier Survived Avalanche Accident With ABS Airbag
- While Snowboarding This Guy Caught Something Epic (And Dangerous) On Film
- Photographer Who Survived An Avalanche Goes On To Become National Geographic Adventurer Of The Year.
- Original image link
- SLF avalanche bulletin and snow information
- Dawn LaPointe’s Lake Superior ice-stacking film
- Laura Wagemakers’s snowy Alps gallery
They are beautiful.
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