Trapped by the Mountain’s Fury
A terrifying narrow escape as a winter slide nearly claims a mountain boarding house.
A thrilling escape from death occurred at the base of the Cascades near Snohomish. A massive avalanche descended the mountain, crashing with the force of an earthquake into the boarding house where the miners were sleeping. The timber structure was caught in the path of the slide, and the residents were buried in an instant. Through great effort, the men were dug out from the snow and debris, having miraculously survived the destruction of their shelter.
“A massive avalanche descended the mountain, crashing with the force of an earthquake into the boarding house where the miners were sleeping.”
Avalanches remain a potent, unpredictable hazard in the Washington Cascades, particularly as climate volatility alters snowpack stability. This account captures the vulnerability of early mining camps that were often sited in dangerous, unstudied terrain to be closer to the vein.
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