The Huron Expositor, 1970-10-29, Page 21Ph. 527-0240: Expositor Action Ads
Thinking of a
SNOWMOBILE
Think of The
TORONTODOMINION
the bank where people make the difference
W. D. STEPHENSON, Manager
Before you buy
give DAUPHIN a tr y
J. & T. MURPHY LTD •
CHRYSLER - PLYMOUTH DEALER
64 Huron Rd. Clinton 482-9475
I L E
RACING
Watch for the M.O.S.R.A.
series of races through-
out Midwestern Ontario
Midwestern Ontario Snowmobile
Racing Association
'SS
a
5
10a—THE HURON EXPOSITOR, SEAFORTH, ONT., OCT. 29, 1970
Area Enthusiasts Snowmobiles Aid In
Organize Group Avalanche Control
M. 0.S. R. A. (Mid Western Ontario
Snowmobile Racing Association)
was formed early in September
with the general purpose of im-
proving Organized Snowmobile
Racing in the district.
Classifications have been
altered slightly to allow more
local participation as well as
classes for the professional
drivers.
The Association, including
clubs in communities extending
north to Wingham and Listowel,
south to Thorndale and St. Marys
West from Goderich to Stratford'
and New Hamburg in the east are
striving to organize safer and
more exciting week ends for the
enjoyment of the spectators as
well as the participants.
Imagine! It's your Job to pa-
trol a 'quarter million miles of
rugged forest, ' icy valleys ' and
towering mountains. You toil
through the winter months putting
long hours in on your snowmo-
bile often in sub-zero temper-
atures when it's a struggle just
to 'stay alive. your job? Seek out
the enemy. An enemy that has
been known to devastate a moun-
tainside in minutes, bury entire
towns in second's, travel at speeds
over 200 miles per hour and bury,
crush, suffocate, even drown it's
victims. It sounds a little more
exciting than catching the 7:23
out of Scarsdale, right? Well,
it is. And it's a lot more dang-
erous, tool
The job described above is
that of an avalanche buster, a
special breed of man whose job
it is to break up or trigger a
potential avalanche before it can
destroy lives and property.
An avalanche buster has to be
a man of many talents: First,
an Outdoorsman, able to live from
day to day in biting cold, blind-
ing sun, even blizzards. And he
has to be able to read, the silent
faces of cliffs, cornices, and
mountains, his practiced eye
telling him when conditions are
just right for an avalanche. He
also has to be a munitions expert
because the shock waves caused
by setting off dynamite or surplus
mortar equipment are most often
used to harml.essly trigger an
avalanche once an area has been
cleared of snowmobilers and
skiers. And recently, the
avalanche buster -has had to be
an expert snowmobiler. Because
most avalanche busters use the
fast, far-ranging and reliable
snowmobile as his workhorse.
The snowmobile allows an
avalanche buster to patrol many
times the area he once slogged
over on skis or snowshoes. But
curiously, the snowmobile is
responsible for the ever-in-
creasing area of the mountainous
part of snowbelt that must be
periodically patrolled by aval-
anche busters. Not too many
years ago avalanche busters were
needed very little outside of es-
tablished road and ski areas.
Back then it was their job to
see that none of the ski trails
were treatened by an avalanche.
Enter the snowmobiler. His
mobile machine allows him to
range far outside of marked trails
and known safe areas. So the
avalanche busters had to increase
their patrols accordingly.
Thus, what was once only a
threat to trees, animals and
an occasional hardy skier or
snowshoer "getting away from it
all" could have threatened the
lives of thousands of snowmo-
bilers who seek out new snowm 3-
bile country each year - - if it
weren't for these dedicated men
of the mountains. The avalanche
busters'