Studying Avalanches A Little Too Closely

Posted by timothy on Saturday December 7, 2002 @09:50PM from the a-white-womb-with-white-curtains dept.

Makarand writes "ABC News has an interesting article about a Professor in Montana State University who is trying to perfect avalanche prediction techniques. He studies avalanches using the 'direct method,' i.e. he sets off an avalanche and puts himself right ahead of it so that he gets buried alive, a routine he has been doing for 20 years now. His goal is to be able to use data about the climate, mountain topography and snow microstructure in a model to forecast if we are prone to avalanche conditions."

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If hes creating these.... by cybergeak · 2002-12-08 00:45 · Score: 2, Interesting

then how can anything as far as climate and conditions affect any sort of out come to his study.... it could be bright and sunny or cold and over cast, or whatever, but if hes making these things then none of that matters as they will happen when ever, or am i missing something?