Russian Avalanche Proves We Shouldn't Have Complained About Those Snowy Nor'easters So Much

A heavy, wet snow avalanche begins to bury and push cars in
Russia this week. 

I don't know about you, but I really got sick and tired of repeatedly digging my truck out of back-breaking, heavy wet snow this month during those nor'easters that kept slamming New England.

I have proof, though, that it could have been worse. (No matter what situation you're in, it could almost always be worse.)

In Russia, an avalanche of heavy, wet snow invaded a parking lot.

According to RT, the snow slid down ski slopes at Mount Elbrus in the North Caucasus of Russia this past week. Mount Elbrus, a dormant volcano, is 18,510 feet high, and is the tallest mountain in Europe. 

Unlike many avalanches, which very often quickly and fatally overwhelm people and everything in their paths, this avalanche was relatively slow, at least when it got to the parking lot of the ski area. That meant everybody was able to get out of the way, even if they couldn't save their cars.

It also meant people were able to take photos and videos of the event. Like I said, I complained about having to dig my truck out from heavy, wet snow. In this case, heavy wet snow just shoved the cars across the parking lot and down the hill.

And oh, by the way, the avalanche smashed the cars against each other, and I'm sure many, if not most of them were totaled. Fortunately, the avalanche, aside from not hurting anyone, also did not destroy any major buildings or roads, though you do see in the video a small building getting smushed.

As a side note, you'll notice a lot of the snow in the video you'll see has an orange or tan tint to it.  That's dust and pollen blown into the region by winds from the deserts of North Africa. 

Here's the video.



Another video shows the avalanche blocking in some cars, but not actually moving or crushing them. Still, would you like to dig out that snow so you could actually drive away. I thought not. Here's that video: