Avalanches are one of the deadliest natural disasters out there. They can strike before you even have a chance to get out of harms way. Avalanches have been nicknamed "the white death" because they kill so many, as stated in the book Avalanches by Nathan Aaseng. But the great part is that avalanches only occur between the months of December through April. Avalanches get their name from the word avalantse, which means "to alter or change", which is stated in the book Dangerous natural phenomena by Missy Allen and Michel Peissel. .
Avalanches are nothing more than falling or sliding snow and sometimes rocks and other debris are mixed in. These large masses of falling snow can come down in many forms and ways as well. Avalanches are categorized in different types according to the way they fall and how much they bring down. The four basic types are; wet snow, slab, powder, and icefall. Wet snow avalanches occur in the spring time. They are caused by elevated temperatures. Slab avalanches are about the worst of all avalanches and are the biggest killers. This avalanche is extremely hard to avoid and can take you with it before you get a chance to move out of the area. The big causes of it are skiers and wind. Powder avalanches are weak looking avalanches because they are airborne but they are deceiving. They start at one point and grow as they fall down the mountain. Finally the last type is icefall avalanches. These avalanches involve massive glaciers. The glaciers fall of off a cliff and tumble down to the ground. .
All avalanches can also be broken down in to sections in which they occur. The start is called the starting zone. Starting zones are high up on slopes. The starting zone is an unstable area of snow on a slope, where the snow is likely to break away from the snow around it and start to fall. Then next part is called the track, which is basically nothing more than the area or path in which the avalanche slides down as it nears the bottom.
