Sign up to receive this in your email
(No more than once daily, often less depending on the amount of new news.)

Archive Index - All Editions

Srinagar-Leh Highway reopens after 10-day avalanche closure

After being shutdown for 10 days due to heavy snowfall and avalanches at Zojila Pass, the vital Srinagar-Leh highway has reopened for stranded passenger vehicles. The reopening of this 434 km strategic road on Sunday brings relief to travelers and residents of Ladakh who were cut off from the valley. The closure was necessitated by adverse weather conditions and multiple avalanches in the high-altitude areas including, Zojila Pass’s Daniyan, Pani Matha.

The Srinagar-Leh highway serves as a crucial lifeline for the Ladakh region, providing the only surface link to the rest of the UT J&K. Its closure often isolates areas like Kargil, which experience heavy snowfall and are heavily reliant on this route for connectivity with the Kashmir Valley. The reopening of the highway is expected to restore essential transportation and trade links, bringing much-needed relief to the region’s residents and businesses affected by the extended closure.
More ... (Rising Kashmir)

Mountain goats are not avalanche-proof

Mountain goats use steep, exposed terrain to avoid carnivores such as wolves, but new research reveals a significant cost of this behavior: exposure to snow avalanches. Findings from a long-term study by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Alaska Southeast with partners in Canada and Switzerland show that death from avalanches represents a widespread but previously undescribed pathway by which snow can influence populations of slow-growing mountain-adapted animals.

The implications of avalanches for small, isolated mountain goat populations can be profound. The ever-present risk of wolves and other large carnivores compels them to inhabit steep, rugged terrain to minimize the risk of predation. However, the predator-free cliffs expose animals to slopes that regularly experience avalanches. While dangerous, avalanches may also provide access to sustenance. Slides expose vegetation in winter and later in spring, when early-emerging “green waves” of nutritious forage appear in avalanche chutes recently swept clean of snow. However, balancing risk and reward is tricky. Avalanche risk can be hard to detect, with the unstable layers that trigger slides being buried deep within the snowpack.
More ... (Alaska Native News)
More ... (Seattle Times)