THE REPORT CONSTITUTES PART OF THE EFFORT IN THE FIELD "SNOW AVALANCHE MECHANICS" DESCRIBED IN THE LONG RANGE RESEARCH PLAN FOR NGI, 19 82- 86 (RES EARCH AREA 4, PROGRAM 4 . 2. )NTN

Kristensen, Krister

English

The report constitutes part of the effort in the field "snow avalanche mechanics" described in the long range research plan for ngi, 19 82- 86 (res earch area 4, program 4.2.)NTN

Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) Digital Archive

REPORT SNOW AVALANCHE DAMAGES IN NORWAY 1982/83 by Krister Kristensen 58810-6 September 1983 PREFACE THE WORK DESCRIBED IN THIS RE PORT WAS SPONSORED BY TH E ROYA L NORWEGIAN COUNCIL FOR SCIENTIFIC AND INDU STRIAL RESEARCH (NTNF) . THIS SUPPORT IS GRA TEFU LL Y ACKNOWLEDGED. THE REPORT CONS TITUTE S PART OF THE EFFORT IN THE FIELD "SNOW AVA LANCHE MECHANICS" DESCRIBED IN THE LONG RANGE RESEARCH PLAN FOR NGI, 19 82- 86 (RES EARCH AREA 4, PROGRAM 4 . 2 . ) NO~YIAN G I,~EG TE CHNICAL IN STITUTE Norwegian Geotechnical Institute NGI Address : Telephone: Telex: Tclegrams: P.D. Box 40 Täsen (02) 23 03 88 19787 ngi n GEOTEKNIKK Oslo 8 Norway REPORT SNOW AVALANCHE DAMAGES IN NORWAY 1982/83 by Krister Kr i stensen 5881 0-6 September, 1983 I NTRODUCTION A short survey of accidents and damage caused by snow avalanches is published after each winter by the Norwegian Geotechnical In st itute. Data are mainly obtained from press mentions and statistics from t he insurance companies. Some serious accidents were also investigated by the Avalanche Section. The se are handl ed in separate reports pub li shed by the NGI. THE WINTER 1982/83 In most of the mountain regions in Norway, severe weather condit ions during midwinter discouraged mountain travel. This is probabl y the mai n reason why fatal accidents involving skiers were li mi ted to on ly one th i s winter. However, considerable material damage was done to cottages and construct ions in the mountain areas. Bad weather and avalanches al so caused great probl ems for road and railway connections . During the winter t here were at l east 17 ava l anche accidents involving peop l e, and two of these, claimed deaths. 7 of the avalanches were Norwegian Geotechnical Institute NGI Address: P.O.Box 40 Täscn 0 510 8 Norway Telephone: Telex : (02) 23 03 88 19787 ng; n Telegrams: GEOTEKNIKK 58810-6 - 2-most likely released by the people involved, while 10 were released naturally. Alltogether 43 people were caught in avalanches; 14 of these were compl etely buried, while 29 were only partly buried. The people involved li st into the foll owing categories: 15 were so l diers bivouacking in the mountains, 9 skiers (outside of developed sk i areas), 6 persons in cars on public roads, 3 road maintainance workers, 2 chi l dren playing near their homes, 2 mounta in climbers, 2 hunters, 1 farmer near his house, 1 mountain hiker and 2 person s in a construction camp . Of the 43 people caught two were killed; one ski tourist and one playing child. This is the lowest number of avalanche victims s ince the winter 1975/76. All of the survivors were rescued either by bystanders or party members, or they managed to free themselves without any other help. Both the victims were found during organized search; one by an avalanche dog and one was l ocated whi l e probing. Descr ipt ion of fatal accidents: 27. November 1982. Kattfjorddalen, Troms : Two skiers cl il11bing with alp i ne ski touring equipment in the Storsteinnes mountain area re l eased ~ NGI a sl ab ava lanche. One .of the skiers, 48-year old Swedish citizen Bruno Rabogalliatti, was caught i n the ava l anche whi le his compa nion ma naged to escape to the side. The police was notified and a large scale search operation was started. 130 me n and 10 avalanche dogs searched the 500m long and 150m wide debris. About 10 hours after the sk ier was caugth, he was located by an avalanche dog in the lowermost part of the debris. He was fou nd at a depth of 1.5m. The post-mortem concluded that death from suffocation had fo ll owed within 1- 2 hours after burial. 5. February 1983. Henning, Nord-Tronde l ag. 13-year old Joar Nys~ther was playing alone in a grave l-pit near his home, when he released a small slab avalanche and was buried under snow. As the boy did no t return to hi s home, his father went out looking for him. He soon found the avalanche site and the boy's footprints near it. Together with neighbours he started di~ging for the boy in the debris. The police arrived to the site, and a search with sound ing probes was started. Short l y afterwards the boy was found at about 50cm depth. He had then been buried for 3 to 4 hours and 58810- 6 -3-a physician could only establish the boy' s death . The avalanche had a vertical fall height of about 20m. ~ NGI @I~ SUMMARY OF AVALANCHE DAMAGES IN NORVlAY 1982/83 county Peop le Bu il dings Veh icles Ki 11 ed Caught or buried Residents Agricultural Cottages Other On pub 1 i c roads Parked Buskerud 2 2 Finnmark 2 Hordaland 1 M0re og Romsda 1 6 8 2 Nord l and 7 12 Nord-Tr0nde l ag Oppl and 14 Sogn og Fjordane 4 2 6 7 Telemark Troms 20 Norway 2 41 3 30 21 6 OWel~al::l ·OOOOl "E:8-L "9[;0 "JU "{}!S 

Snow avalanche damages in Norway 1982/83

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Snow avalanche damages in Norway 1982/83

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