Hauling field gear up Gothic Mountain…
ABSTRACT: Recent advances in computational methods and availability of digital terrain models allow for improvements in avalanche dynamics models. Such models have been used and calibrated primarily in Europe, but are likely to see increased applications worldwide. This paper describes applications of the Swiss model RAMMS for long-return period avalanches in two distinct North American climates. A mid-latitude continental snow climate avalanche in the Elk Mountains near Aspen, Colorado occurred in March 1965. This large avalanche left distinct trim lines in the forest along the track and runout bounda-ries. The track has complex geometry that includes two sharp turns where the flow climbs due to momen-tum. A large avalanche occurred in February, 1986 in an unpopulated area of the Eastern Sierra Nevada range near Bridgeport, California. This mid-latitude maritime climate example was unique due to its long runout zone (1,030m) on a 4.6 ° slope through a mature forest and large-volume release. RAMMS simula-tions produced a runout approximately 300m short of that observed. In each case, release volumes and friction parameters are described along with adjustments made to ac-count for local climate and to improve model calibration.
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