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Show who were wearing slick soled shoes and had no ice axes, came close to a second disaster, when they slid uncontrolled down the avalanche track of hard ice. Fortunately all hit soft snow which stopped them short of going over a two- hundred foot waterfal1. After about an hour of probing the long avalanche, the group below lit a red smoke flare and notified the group above by radio that Dr. C. A.' s body had been found. Probing then continued down hill. Before the bottom of the slide was reached, two more teams arrived to help complete the search. Every clue was checked out by the searchers, but they had no success in locating D. L. Below the falls, the pile- up of avalanche snow was thirty- feet deep, and it was impossible to probe thoroughly. The search was finally called off at dark the next day. Although Mountain Rescue personnel and two army teams with mine detectors searched the area the following weekend, D. L.' s body was not recovered until three weeks later, when it was uncovered by melt. COMMENTS Both a hazardous choice of route and misjudgement of snow conditions contributed to this accident. Once more a basic rule of ski touring is emphasized. When in doubt, stick to the ridges. The rescue was complicated by an earlier dispatch of equipment and trained personnel to another accident. The problem of an icy surface exposed by sliding snow is not an uncommon one. Rescue leaders need to be alert for this hazard. No. 62- 7 TABERG. NEW YORK 31 December 1962 WEATHER FACTORS The year's end brought snow storms and sub- zero temperatures to the area around Taberg, New York. An additional eight to twelve inches of snow fell on 29 and 30 December, bringing the total accumulation between eighteen and twenty- four inches. At midnight on the 29th, Saturday, the temperature dropped to - 16 degrees, and was only up to- 10 degrees on Sunday. Strong wind gusts up to fifty m. p. h. created wind packed cornices on the slopes adjacent to open land. Below the cornices, the snow developed into slab conditions. Throughout the area, conditions were basically alpine. Some of the area's residents later recalled the peculiar texture of the snow. One noted that it was like salt; another stated that the snow had a crust on top and was like sugar beneath. 80 |