Steel wire rope nets have become common as protection measure against avalanches in Europe by preventing a release in the potential starting zone. A novel approach that has gained much ground through new research is to retard the movement of an avalanche after it has been initiated, that is in its path or run out zone. Such systems have the potential to be more cost efficient than traditional structures such as avalanche protection dams, saving both time and space of installation. In Lech (Vorarlberg - Austria) a Snowcatcher prototype was installed and instrumented with several load measuring pins, which record the dynamic loads caused by an avalanche. 24 avalanche events in 4 years were detected. In addition to the field tests, scaled granular experiments were performed in the laboratory. These tests show that the Snowcatcher leads to a significant reduction of avalanche velocities. Subsequently the calculated Froude numbers decrease, indicating less destructive power of the avalanche. As well, the spreading of the avalanche in the deposition zone decreases downslope of the Snowcatcher. snow net, protection measure, granular experiment
