Avalanche News - Nov 01 , 2023
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NZ - Homer Tunnel to get new avalanche shelter
The Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency will start work next month on the replacement of the 35-metre avalanche shelter at the mouth of the Homer Tunnel. It will be a portable, modular and quick installation, enabling efficient construction at the entrance to the tunnel. The agency will use over 150 precast concrete units created in Ashburton.
Source (more)
Colorado's 1st avalanche of season reported
The state's first avalanche of the season was reported on October 15 below the ridge of Mountain Boy Peak. The slide occurred on a NW aspect where old faceted snow from earlier in October lay under more recent storm slab. It was triggered by a skier probing the snow just below a ridgeline and fractured ten feet below him. Nobody was caught or involved in the avalanche. Mountain Boy Peak is located immediately south of Independence Pass where it crosses the Continental Divide. The elevation is approximately 13,198-feet.
Source (more)
Report by the skier
Man fined €200 for triggering giant avalanche
In the Zell am See District Court (Pinzgau), a Viennese man was fined €200 for gross negligence endangering physical safety. The incident occurred in February this year on the Schmittenhöhe near Zell am See when the man, then 44 years old, and his 13-year-old son ventured onto the unsecured, steep eastern slope in open terrain, despite an avalanche warning level four. Their actions triggered a massive avalanche that measured 300 meters in width and 800 meters in length. As a result, the public prosecutor's office accused the father of gross negligence, endangering the physical safety of both his son and the emergency services. During the trial the man maintained his innocence. He appealed the latest decision in full.
Source (more, in German)
