65 years of snow and avalanche science Lib4RI has completed the digitalisation of more than 700 historical snow and avalanche reports from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos. Published between 1938 to 2005, these reports document decades of avalanche observations and snow science conducted by researchers from Switzerland and around the world. We are excited that these reports are now publicly available on our institutional repository DORA for all to explore.
The collection spans early snowpack measurements to detailed accounts of major avalanche events, offering an insight into both the history of snow science and the evolution of safety practices in alpine regions. A few scientific highlights from the reports include:
- As early as the 1940s, researchers intensively studied crystal plasticity in snow, developing new experimental approaches to better understand the complex deformation behaviour of snow (wsl:33482).
- Historical avalanche events, such as the devastating avalanche of 1958/59 in Iran, led to increased international cooperation and improved protective measures (wsl:36880).
- Experiments with avalanche barriers and reforestation in alpine regions, in the 1960s, provided important insights into securing mountain forest zones and their contribution to avalanche prevention (wsl:38853, wsl:38855).
- In the late 1980s, the introduction of Denoth devices allowed for much more precise measurements of snow wetness compared to manual tests (wsl:33484).
- Research aimed at improving safety during avalanche rescues in the 1990s resulted in the development and testing of the ABS avalanche airbag, which demonstrably reduces the risk of burial (wsl:38847).
Digitising and publishing these historical research findings on DORA preserves valuable scientific heritage and fosters future advances in avalanche research and alpine safety.
Check out all the SLF avalanche reports on DORA.
Below we have included some figures from the reports written in the 1940s and 1950s.
