In Pictures: The Revelstoke Museum's Land of Thundering Snow unveiling

By David F. Rooney
The Revelstoke Museum unveiled its long-awaited Land of Thundering Snow exhibitions on Wednesday, March 4, in two ceremonies that were attended by hundreds of people.
The first opening was held at the museum itself and focused on physical and interactive displays about avalanches that describe the way these powerful forces of nature impact local our local, regional, provincial and national histories.
The second event was held at the Performing Arts Centre where about 200 people came to watch the formal unveiling of the Land of Thundering Snow virtual exhibition that now forms part of the Virtual Museum of Canada. This entire project was developed through a $235,000 grant from the Virtual Museum’s Virtual Exhibition Investment Program.
The website, like the physical displays, is absolutely first rate. It is online at www.landofthunderingsnow.ca for a few days this week and then will be taken offline this coming week  so that technicians can conduct some finale edits. So, don’t be alarmed if you can’t see it next week. Ideally, it will be back up on the World Wide Web very quickly.
In the meantime, here is a selection of photos from both openings:

John Woods, researcher and writer on the Revelstoke Museum & Archives long-awaited Land of Thundering Snow virtual museum project, greets Mengia Nicholson at the start of the Museum's unveiling of the physical exhibition attached to the show. David F. Rooney photo
John Woods, researcher and writer on the Revelstoke Museum & Archives long-awaited Land of Thundering Snow virtual museum project, greets Mengia Nicholson at the start of the Museum’s unveiling of the physical exhibition attached to the show. David F. Rooney photo

One of the eye-catching elements in the Museum's physical exhibition. David F. Rooney photo
One of the eye-catching elements in the Museum’s physical exhibition. David F. Rooney photo

Teacher Lisa Cancilla Sykes explores the fascinating time-machine-like interactive computer displays that allows users to explore the hundreds of different major — and known — avalanches that have affected Canadians since the first recorded snow slide in Newfoundland in 1782. You can easily spend hours exploring this one display. David F. Rooney photo
Teacher Lisa Cancilla Sykes explores the fascinating time-machine-like interactive computer displays that allows users to explore the hundreds of different major — and known — avalanches that have affected Canadians since the first recorded snow slide in Newfoundland in 1782. You can easily spend hours exploring this one display. David F. Rooney photo

Assisted by Mayor Mark McKee (left) and retired avalanche researcher Peter Schaerer, Museum Curator Cathy English prepares to cut the gorgeous cake created especially for this event by the Modern Bakery. David F. Rooney photo
Assisted by Mayor Mark McKee (left) and retired avalanche researcher Peter Schaerer, Museum Curator Cathy English prepares to cut the gorgeous cake created especially for this event by the Modern Bakery. David F. Rooney photo

Here's a close-up of the cake. Isn't it imaginative? David F. Rooney photo
Here’s a close-up of the cake. Isn’t it imaginative? David F. Rooney photo

A few hours after the opening of the physical exhibition, the Museum staged an official unveiling of the Land of Thundering Snow virtual exhibition created over the past year for the Virtual Museum of Canada. David F. Rooney photo
A few hours after the opening of the physical exhibition, the Museum staged an official unveiling of the Land of Thundering Snow virtual exhibition created over the past year for the Virtual Museum of Canada. David F. Rooney photo

Carol Palladino and Thom Tischik pose as skiers on a green screen. Using an iPad their image could be inserted into an image of, say, and avalanche. David F. Rooney photo
Carol Palladino and Thom Tischik pose as skiers on a green screen. Using an iPad their image could be inserted into an image of, say, and avalanche. David F. Rooney photo

Revelstoke Museum Curator Cathy English proudly welcomes 200 guests to the Performing Arts Centre for the official unveiling of the museum's eagerly anticipated Land of Thundering Snow virtual exhibit. David F. Rooney photo
Revelstoke Museum Curator Cathy English proudly welcomes 200 guests to the Performing Arts Centre for the official unveiling of the museum’s eagerly anticipated Land of Thundering Snow virtual exhibit. David F. Rooney photo

John Woods talks to an audience of about 200 people at the Performing Arts Centre about the many different features on the www.landofthunderingsnow.ca website. David F. Rooney photo
John Woods talks to an audience of about 200 people at the Performing Arts Centre about the many different features on the www.landofthunderingsnow.ca website. David F. Rooney photo

The website is the sophisticated product of a $235,000 grant from Heritage Canada. David F. Rooney photo
The website is the sophisticated product of a $235,000 grant from Heritage Canada. David F. Rooney photo

As you might expected the tragic history of avalanches in Canada is largely about the mountains of western Canada, particularly British Columbia. And that provincial history of this powerful natural force weights heavily on Revelstoke and its people. The March 4, 1910 avalanche claimed 58 lives in Rogers Pass. 93 years later avalanches west of town claimed the of 14 people in two separate avalanches. The Land of Thundering Snow website includes news broadcasts about many avalanches, including those two. In a nod to the past the opening on Wednesday marked the 105th anniversary of the Rogers Pass avalanche. David F. Rooney photo
As you might expected the tragic history of avalanches in Canada is largely about the mountains of western Canada, particularly British Columbia. And that provincial history of this powerful natural force weights heavily on Revelstoke and its people. The March 4, 1910 avalanche claimed 58 lives in Rogers Pass. 93 years later avalanches west of town claimed the of 14 people in two separate avalanches. The Land of Thundering Snow website includes news broadcasts about many avalanches, including those two. In a nod to the past the opening on Wednesday marked the 105th anniversary of the Rogers Pass avalanche. David F. Rooney photo

The evening's ceremony included first-person accounts by local people. Here Louis Deschamps, a retired heavy equipment operator talks about surviving an avalanche that swept over him while he was working in the Pass. Luckily he had time to turn off the bulldozer he was operating and take cover beneath the heavy machine. His recollection of hearing the ting-ting sound of rescuers probing the snow to find the 'dozer was chilling. David F. Rooney photo
The evening’s ceremony included first-person accounts by local people. Here Louis Deschamps, a retired heavy equipment operator talks about surviving an avalanche that swept over him while he was working in the Pass. Luckily he had time to turn off the bulldozer he was operating and take cover beneath the heavy machine. His recollection of hearing the ting-ting sound of rescuers probing the snow to find the ‘dozer was chilling. David F. Rooney photo

Johann Schleiss shared stories of his upbringing in Rogers Pass where both his father and uncle worked on avalanche research and mitigation. That experience led him to continue in their footsteps and he is now Parks Canada's senior avalanche technician. David F. Rooney photo
Johann Schleiss shared stories of his upbringing in Rogers Pass where both his father and uncle worked on avalanche research and mitigation. That experience led him to continue in their footsteps and he is now Parks Canada’s senior avalanche technician. David F. Rooney photo

Retired prioneering avalanche researcher Peter Schaerer shares a proud moment in his life when then Governor General Adrienne Clarkson invested him in the order of Canada. David F. Rooney photo
Retired pioneering avalanche researcher Peter Schaerer shares a proud moment in his life when then Governor General Adrienne Clarkson invested him in the order of Canada. The audience also heard the avalanche-themed Ballad of Billy LaChance by Saskia Delaronde and heard an avalanche forecaster’s perspective delivered by Avalanche Canada Forecaster Grant Hegelson.  David F. Rooney photo

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