A Wall of White by Jennifer Woodlief

A Wall of White; The True Story of Heroism and Survival in the Face of a Deadly Avalanche (2009) written by Jennifer Woodlief is a fascinating and amazing story about a blizzard, an avalanche, and the heroic people who set out to rescue survivors. The deadly avalanche occurred on March 31, 1982 at the Alpine Meadows ski resort near Lake Tahoe, California. A blizzard rolled into the area and dropped more than four feet of snow--on top of previously existing layers of snow-- in three days. Three avalanches were set off simultaneously and millions of pounds of snow rolled over the ski resort and parking lot. The ski patrol worked with vacationers at the resort during the blizzard to rescue any survivors. In the end, seven people were killed and one woman was buried alive.
This book was obviously very well researched. Woodlief uncovers all sorts of details about the science of avalanches, the history of Alpine Meadows, the workings and efforts of the ski patrol to control avalanches, and the personal lives of both victims and survivors. I was particularly intrigued by the descriptions of the ski patrol’s missions to control massive avalanches by setting off bombs to cause smaller avalanches. I was somewhat bored by the detailed biographies of people affected by the avalanche that day and skimmed over them a lot. In general, A Wall of White is full of adventure and suspense and is an easy read.
Readers who are fans of adventure stories with the theme of “man vs. nature”--i.e. those written by Jon Krakauer, Erik Larson, Sebastian Junger—may also like this title.