The White Death

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Some call it the "White Death"

and an ancient riddle asks,

what flies without wings,

strikes without hands

and sees without eyes?

Every year more than a million

avalanches fall world wide.

Avalanches are simply part of

our planet's natural order.

It is only when we get in their way

that tragedy strikes.

Utilizing unique methods,

we continue our quest

to better understand the dynamic

power of raging snow.

But the magic of

the mountains lures us...

more and more place themselves

in harm's way.

My machine just moved over me

and everything just started moving

and I just yelled.

I just screamed "Help me God."

My whole life's flashing

in front of my eyes.

You go to inhale and you were just

inhaling a mouthful of snow.

I was sure I was gonna die.

They're not to be trusted.

They're awesome terrible things.

They'll rip you to shreds.

They'll Maytag ya.

Something we need to

learn something about.

Annapurna in Nepal,

one of the most dangerous mountains

in the world.

October 15, 1997.

Brothers Jose Antonio

and Jesus Martinez Novas,

veteran mountain climbers from Spain

plan to ascend over 26,000 feet

to the summit.

Cameraman Allejandro Rocha

is to record their departure

from Camp 2

and then await their return.

Recent storms have left deep snow

on the mountain side.

It is slow going as the brothers

set off to establish Camp Three

some 3000 feet higher on the peak.

An hour after they begin to climb

they are just two tiny dots

on the face of the mountain...

as Allejandro shoots video

from the tent.

As he faces death.

Allejandro captures

a final self portrait.

But just as it reaches the tent,

the avalanche is spent.

Allejandro is astonished

to find himself alive,

but has little hope for his friends.

Are you alright?

Like specters they emerge from

the white eager to tell their tale.

The following day

the weather got worse

and they were driven off Annapurna.

Some 20 percent of the Earth's land

mass is crowned by mountains.

In the Andes, the Caucasus,

the Himalaya,

the Alps and the Rockies avalanches

exert their terrible power.

in the United States

from Vermont to Alaska.

And here deep in the back country

of Alaska...

Three experts are seeking to

photograph the perfect avalanche.

With cinematographer Steve Kroschel,

world renowned avalanche experts

Doug Fesler and Jill Fredston,

are here both to trigger

the snow slide

and ensure the safety

of Kroschel's film crew.

I realize the power of the avalanche

and I try to capture that on film.

I mean it really rouses people.

It stirs in all of us something.

I don't know, primeval.

It's very interesting.

But to get those images,

I must go down into these

dangerous zones

where the avalanche

is going to come down

and if I make a mistake,

if I'm wrong, it'll cost me my life.

So being with people

like Doug and Jill

who are experts

and know snow safety to a T.

That's what their main objective is

to make sure that

I don't get killed.

I'm aware of the lighting conditions

that he wants.

And I'm aware of the kind of

avalanche he'd like to have.

But sometimes I feel like

I have to do a little reality check.

Because there's exposure

from crevasse fields

that are in the run out zone,

that people could fall down

and have avalanche potential

if they're on adjoining slopes.

And so those are the things

that I'm looking at.

First and foremost I want to

make it a safe spot.

Can we go along this ridge to

this little peak

where that cornice is just

go right along so I can look out.

This is a good spot isn't it Doug?

Well it's good so far up there.

This kind of concerns me

all those seracs up above

as far as landing down there.

We'll have to take a look at that.

This is the peak right here.

That should rip out Doug.

I believe it will rip out.

Doesn't that look good to you?

I don't like it because

of the crevasses.

And some of the exposure to

some of these chunks of ice

up here coming off.

I don't think it's safe.

It takes several hours to find

the spot that satisfies everyone.

It looks like we could drop

charges right down

in that little pocket there

where the cornice is.

Doesn't that look good to you?

Yeah.

Lower 'em in there like

it's my unborn son.

One camera is positioned inside

a padded steel crash box

which is placed directly

in the path of the avalanche.

Timing is everything

in this mission.

The camera must begin shooting

when the avalanche is triggered

or it will all be for nothing.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Six. Seven. Eight. Nine.

Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.

Fourteen. Fifteen.

OK!

On your mark get set and go!

Steve positions himself behind

a second camera at a safe distance.

Second one out.

Okay keep going... keep going.

Several sticks of high explosives

will be used to

trigger the avalanche

Most avalanches are

naturally triggered,

when the weight of the snow exceeds

its ability to hold together.

And most of these occur far

from human eyes.

I think the usefulness

of seeing avalanches in motion

is that a lot of the people

that we deal

with in our avalanche workshops

have never seen an avalanche

in motion before.

But when they see

this thing in motion

and they see the power

that's associated

with an avalanche

it's a wake up alarm

Like the snowflakes

they are composed of

no two avalanches are alike.

Even very small avalanches can kill,

and the big ones are true monsters.

They can attain speeds of

over 200 miles per hour...

traveling a mile or more

on level ground.

No place in avalanche country

is entirely safe.

In 1988

the Austrian town of St. Anton

which had not experienced

an avalanche in over 60 years,

was struck just after dawn.

Houses which had stood for

almost 400 years

were destroyed in an instant.

Remote areas in less developed

countries are the hardest hit.

The greatest known avalanche

disaster took place in Peru

where an ice slide

decimated the town of Yungay,

killing 18,000 people.

They're awesome terrible things.

They'll rip you to shreds.

They'll Maytag you.

But they're also

beautiful to watch,

they're delicate,

they're graceful, they dance.

They're a double edged sword

in that sense.

They're not to be trusted.

Something we need to

learn something about.

In the western world most

avalanche victims place themselves

in the path of danger,

and see the mountains as

a playground beautiful and benign.

The interesting thing about

avalanche accidents is that

most of them

happen on nice blue sky days.

It's also very interesting to me

that roughly 95% of the people

who are caught in avalanches

are the ones

who triggered the avalanche.

And really the question isn't really

why is so and so getting caught,

it's why did they let themselves

get caught,

because there's so much knowledge

available today that nobody,

nobody needs to get caught

in an avalanche by accident.

The trap is set over

a period of time.

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