Montana's Glacier Park contains within it some of the most awe-inspiring mountains in America. But one of the park's most prominent peaks also was the scene of a terrible disaster in the late 1960s, relatively unknown outside of Montana until this month's publication of McKay Jenkins' new book.
'The White Death: Tragedy and Heroism in an Avalanche Zone'
by McKay Jenkins
Random House, $23.95
Just after Christmas 1969, five young men, ages 18 to 22, set out to climb the sheer ice wall of the north face of Mount Cleveland in the park. The ascent of the north face, one of the highest vertical walls in America, would have been a first, under the worst possible conditions in the dead of winter.
Days later, their failure to return set off an enormous and perilous search, involving both U.S. and Canadian authorities. Their tracks were eventually found at the edge of a massive avalanche. The search-and-rescue effort was abandoned when deteriorating weather made it all but impossible to continue, and the chances of the young men surviving became minimal.
Their bodies were eventually recovered during the spring thaw, buried deep within the cold grip of the avalanche, some upside down and hanging suspended in an ice cave formed by the spring runoff, more than 30 feet from the surface of the snow.
In his captivating new book, Jenkins unfolds the tragedy as a framework for a history of avalanches. The first detailed published account of the tragedy, the book has sparked an outpouring of interest nationally, including a cover story in Outside magazine and an upcoming excerpt in Reader's Digest.
In the style of Norman MacLean's best-selling exploration of a notorious Montana forest fire in "Young Men and Fire," Jenkins combines the best of a study of the history and causes for avalanche disasters with a gripping story of young men pitting their strength and mountaineering skills against a formidable foe under unforgiving conditions.
Jenkins, a professor at the University of Delaware and a prolific writer for numerous publications, explained in a recent interview how, during a ski vacation in Glacier Park, he attended a slide show by park Ranger Bob Frauson. Frauson had cautioned the young men on the danger of their proposed trip, and helped to lead the search-and-rescue efforts.
Frauson's story of the tragedy - almost completely unreported in the national press at the time - captured Jenkins' imagination.
"Frauson essentially wrote the book in that presentation," Jenkins explained. In the following two years, Jenkins pored through the general literature on avalanches and interviewed family, rescue officials and others about the Montana tragedy. Slipping in the science of avalanches "sideways" around the narrative results in a remarkably interesting study of the history, causes and sometimes disastrous Sudden, horrifically swift and massive, avalanches are difficult to predict, much less to survive. Avalanches are usually caused by instability between different layers of snow, and particularly dangerous slab avalanches are often launched when "depth hoar" - small glittering sugar granules of snow - forms between layers of snow.
When the unsuspecting climber or skier steps onto such a field of snow, the top level of snow can suddenly collapse with a "whoompf," and trigger a fracture across the snowfield that moves in excess of 300 mph. This is followed by a sudden massive release of the top snow layers. Fueled by its sheer weight and greased by the underlying depth hoar, the avalanche roars down the mountain, with more than 2,800 times the power generated by an Amtrak locomotive, exploding everything before it and easily overtaking anyone in its path.
Although Jenkins avoids any suggestion that the Montana climbers should not have attempted the ascent, he notes the alarming increase in avalanche death: From 1950 to 1975, roughly half a dozen people died in avalanches in the United States each year. But in the past five years, it has leaped to an average of 28 per year and last year reached 32 fatalities - the worst in 75 years. European avalanches last year were even deadlier: 160 people died in the record snowfalls.
Avalanches, like hurricane-force winds, earthquakes or other natural forces, occur every day, and are not generally dangerous in and of themselves. "Only when human life is present - when the avalanche serves as the backdrop to human drama - are these natural forces `dangerous,' " Jenkins says.
Avalanche death has increased in recent years, not because avalanches are getting worse, but because humans are putting themselves at risk more often. Jenkins attributes this, in large part, to the elimination of most risk from the average American's life.
The "alpha male" lawyer from Chicago carries an attitude into the mountains, where his status means nothing and his attitude is a downright liability. Bolstered with the latest expensive gear, many try to squeeze maximum risk into minimum time, untempered by experience, humility or real knowledge of hidden risks. The result, Jenkins believes, is often disastrous.
In this case, these young men were among the best-trained and most-experienced climbers of their generation. But, even armed with that skill and experience, because of the unique geologic structure of the mountain upon which they found themselves, they could not see the amount of snow above them, lying in wait for an errant footstep to release its awful power.
Humility is the lesson of the disaster, Jenkins says - that, and the knowledge that even the best-trained and best-prepared cannot anticipate the natural forces that sometimes lurk beyond our power to recognize or control.
Although more deadly avalanches have occurred, the Mount Cleveland disaster remains one of the nation's worst, and a warning that mountains are dangerous places. Even strong young men with mountaineering expertise are no match against the danger that often lies beneath that soft white blanket of snow. "White Death" is an eloquent and spectacular tribute to five young men who died 31 years ago.