QSocRp (mountain Tftm^rfanb 



and gravity has conducted to it the crumbling 

 rocks from above. At last — largely ice — it 

 breaks away. In rushing down, it gathers ma- 

 terial from its predestined way. 



In the spring of 1901, one of these slides broke 

 loose and came down the slope of Gray's Peak. 

 For years the snow had accumulated on a ridge 

 above timber-line. The mass shot down a steep 

 slope, struck the woods, and swept to the 

 bottom about four thousand feet below, mow- 

 ing down every tree in a pathway about three 

 hundred feet wide. About one hundred thou- 

 sand trees were piled in wild, broken wreckage 

 in the gorge below. 



Although a snow-slide is almost irresistible, 

 it is not difficult, in many localities, to prevent 

 slides by anchoring the small snow-drift which 

 would slip and start the slide. In the West, a 

 number of slides have been suppressed by set- 

 ting a few posts in the upper reaches of slopes 

 and gulches. These posts pinned fast the snow 

 that would slip. The remainder held its own. 

 The Swiss, too, have eliminated many Alpine 

 slides by planting hardy shrubbery in the 



90 



