Kolka–Karmadon rock ice slide

File:Karmadon.jpg

Satellite images, taken before and after the avalanche, shows the vast extent of the disaster. Debris and ice filled the Genaldon Valley from the Kolka Glacier Cirque to the Gates of Karmadon, distance of about Template:Convert.

The Kolka–Karmadon rock-ice slide occurred on the northern slope of the Mount Kazbek massif in North Ossetia–Alania on 20 September 2002, following a partial collapse of the Kolka Glacier. It started on the north-northeast wall of Mount Jimara, Template:Convert above sea level, and seriously affected the valley of Genaldon and Karmadon. The resulting avalanche and mudflow killed more than 120 people, including a film crew of 27 people, among them Russian actor and director Sergei Bodrov Jr. While this type of avalanche is not uncommon, this particular event is considered extraordinary because of several aspects.

Collapse

The main deposit settled Template:Convert from the face of Dzhimarai-Khokh. A Template:Convert thick chunk of the Kolka Glacier travelled Template:Convert down the Karmadon Gorge and Koban Valley at over Template:Convert. The outflow of mud and debris measured Template:Convert wide and Template:Convert thick. Two villages along the gorge were under surveillance as flood waters backed up along the choked rivers. It finally came to rest in the village of Nizhniy Karmadon, burying most of the village in ice, snow, and debris. On September 25, a first round of explosives intended to break up the avalanche flow was unsuccessful in reducing flood waters lapping through the village of Gornaya Saniba. The avalanche had two distinct flows.

Notable victims

• Sergei Bodrov Jr.
• Vladimir Kartashov
• Template:Ill

See also

• List of avalanches