Just this morning, I saw a bit of amateur video taken after the avalanche swept over the road. Apparently this was taken before any rescue crews had arrived so everyone there was just a passing motorist. So, on the video you see lot's of people quickly and methodically going over the snow with avalanche probes and people running over with shovels.

And I certainly don't mean this as a criticism, just an observation. But in the same news segment, this official mentioned that the cars had been swept 300 feet off the road, down the embankment. The amateur video only showed the roadway and never down the hill, but I think it's safe to assume that all these well-meaning people (and bless them for acting) were basically looking in the wrong place. Don't get me wrong, if no one saw the cars go over the side, I would start with the roadway first, too. It's possible that some people did go down the hill and we just didn't see the viedo, but the fact that no dramatic footage of ordinary people scrambling down the embankment to look for survivors is being aired probably means that everyone was on the roadway.

Anyway, the reason I mention this is because these two bits of info just reinforced something I learned--gosh, maybe way back in driver's ed--about how in car accidents, occupants could be ejected quite a ways from the vehicle. And similarly with this avalanche. The obvious accident "scene" may not be where all the victims actually are, and a secondary, wider survey is a smart thing to do. Anyway, just a thought.