In early March of 1979, Ranger Steve and I were traveling Highway 2 from East Glacier, Montana to Kalispell. Having just reviewed an epic production of Barefoot in the Park by the East Glacier Players, we were headed west to do a little alpine sliding.
The entire area was besieged with slides and major avalanches that spring, due to a combination of warm weather, heavy snow and–at times–rain. In retrospect I did not realize we were really viewing an historic snow event until we got to Goat Lick Bridge, which was no longer there.
The bridge had been pulverized by a major slide and only recently replaced by a temporary timber bridge alleviating a hundred-mile-plus detour on a major east-west artery. As we walked the debris field we were amazed that nothing was really intact. Trees were splinters, the bridge was rubble and the snow was set like cement, freezing in place debris where it came to rest. It reminded me of Pompeii, only the pyroclastic flow was snow.
Since that incident I have been an avalanche aficionado and find the recent popular interest in them maudlin and sycophantic. So, news that the NY Times has embraced the drama of fatal celebrity avalanches bores me. The Goat Lick slides were nonfatal but powerful events occurring in a media vacuum in an obscure geography. Detailing those avalanches here won’t change that dynamic.
Photo: 1979 NPS photo of avalanche debris covering two Burlington Northern Railroad sheds, with Highway 2 to the left. Taken by Pete Martinelli.
