Title: Death In The Alps
Headings: Death In The Alps
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Death In The Alps
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Content: David Pitt, a consultant to the environmental group Alp Action in Geneva, described the recent weather pattern in the Alps as "a little like a cold hurricane." Imagine Mitch, which did so much damage to Central America last year, but with snow. When the enormous, unstable masses of snow started to slide down the mountain, the speed and force were beyond the power of any barrier. What's more, the high population density of the Alps makes it difficult for authorities to use "active" avalanche controls--namely, exploding small avalanches before they become big ones (following story). Where there are crowds, there can be no explosions, and therefore no active avalanche prevention. The Alps are the most densely populated high mountain range in the world. The weather of the past two months--overwhelming snowfalls--has emptied many of the areas' resorts and will certainly have an effect on tourism. But in a good season, the Alps are the single most popular tourist region in the world, drawing 120 million visitors per year, who spend a full one tenth of the world's tourism revenue there. In Austria, tourism is particularly important. It represents more than 6 percent of the country's GDP, and pays a higher proportion of local salaries than anywhere else in the world.