Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches
by Jill Fredston
Published by Harcourt, Inc. a Harvest Book
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Reviewed by C. L. Rossman
Of all the natural disasters we've seen, like fire, flood, and earthquake, one important one is often left out: avalanche--those sudden-death slides in snowy mountain country.
Jill Fredston takes care of that in her latest book Snowstruck. Beginning with an avalanche in 2005 that wiped out half the town of Cordova, Alaska, she tells the story of her lifelong fascination with the cold country, her 20 years of research into the subject, and her own marriage to Alaskan avalanche expert Doug Fesler. Together, they travel across Alaska, trying to find out how these sudden killer slides begin, when and where they are most likely to strike. The couple teaches classes to skiers, snowmobilers and others venturing into high country, trying to train them to watch for warning signs of an avalanche.
And yet...and yet...
You will feel Jill's frustration and sorrow as they see these very same students and even close friends go out again and again under dangerous conditions--and pay for it with their lives. Even cities and towns in avalanche country resist a ban on building in likely avalanche paths, and turn a deaf ear to warnings as their citizens construct homes at the very foot of dangerous slopes. You too will want to grit your teeth in the face of such municipal greed.
This is an excellent book not only for skiers and snow sports enthusiasts, but also a harrowing story and a good resource guide for writers and researchers who want to know more about what makes avalanches tick...like time bombs on the slopes above our heads.
Jill Fredston is the author of Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge, which won the 2002 National Outdoor Book Award for Literature. She and her husband, Doug Fesler, co-direct the Alaska Mountain Safety Center and co-wrote the authoritative Snow Sense: A Guide to Evaluating Snow Avalanche Hazard. They live in the mountains above Anchorage.
Armchair Interviews says: Overall, this is an easy-to-read book about the causes and catastrophes of an unacknowledged natural killer.