For the past decade, our U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research team has rummaged through Glacier National Park?s archives looking for records of snow avalanches. Our searches have paid off. We have found photographs that show snow avalanches blocking progress during the annual spring opening of the famed Going-to-the-Sun Road, ranger logs that describe cabins and telephone lines destroyed by avalanches, and superintendents? reports that recount
avalanche accidents that killed employees or visitors.
Recently, we have combined these historical sources with
field studies to investigate whether snow avalanches in
the park may be more cyclical than random and as much
an ecological process as a natural hazard. Our ongoing
research in Montana has yielded relevant information for
park managers elsewhere who deal with avalanche threats
to park infrastructure and for ecologists seeking a better
understanding of how mountain ecosystems function.
