Featured Collection

The Peter Schaerer Photo Collection

Peter Schaerer was born in 1926 at Berne, Switzerland and in 1950 graduated with a diploma in Civil Engineering at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, where he studied snow mechanics and avalanche control. In 1957, he arrived in Glacier National Park after Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) requested an engineer from the National Research Council (NRC) to assist with weather and snow observations and to design avalanche control works at Rogers Pass. Peter worked with Parks Canada Warden Noel Gardner for a few years developing the avalanche safety program in Glacier National Park and was responsible for the design and location of avalanche control works/static defenses against avalanches (snow sheds, earth mounds and dikes) as well as snow/avalanche observations. He was an important member of PWGSC’s Snow and Avalanche Survey crew for several years and in the winter of 1965/66, was tasked by the NRC to run an avalanche research program.

 

The following report by Peter Schaerer analyzes avalanches in Rogers Pass from 1956-1961.

Click on the image below to view all of the images collected by Peter Schaerer during his work in Rogers Pass.