THE WHITE CYCLONE 115 



vanced, the slide rushed downward, pursued by 

 an enormous train of curling, whirling, snow flour 

 and ice powder — a white cyclone. One glimpse 

 that I had of this gravity-mad monster showed its 

 front rapidly rolling and wildly somersaulting for- 

 ward. At the bottom of the slope the slide mass 

 must have been three hundred feet wide, half as 

 high, and two blocks or more long. 



With the momentum gained in its "run" the 

 slide rushed a quarter of a mile up a slope which lay 

 in its path and ascended about three hundred feet. 

 The up-hill coasting caused telescoping; a shorten- 

 ing in the length, a massing and enlarging of the 

 front. 



With thousands of tons of rock in its terrible 

 front it hit a low lateral moraine at right angles, 

 tearing an opening through the top. There was 

 an explosion, with outflying stones and snow, and 

 more telescoping occurred. The top of the slide 

 plunged forward, mingling with the upward, back- 

 ward-hurled front. As it struck, another splendid 

 white dust column rolled up and lingered for a 

 time in the sky. 



In tearing through the moraine the snowslide 

 was deflected to the left where it slid up a moderate 

 slope. Then it curved to the right and started 

 down grade. On the monster swept. Occasion- 

 ally a section leaped high and tumbled upon the 

 mass in front. It rounded the face of the slope, 

 cutting a contour in the deep snow and loose stones. 



