REGIONAL
St. Helens spews ash, steam
VANCOUVER. Wash. (API - An ex
plosion of sleam and ash Monday at
Mount St. Helens apparently created a
small mudflow, but no damage was re
ported and scientists said they had no
evidence a bigger event was in the off
ing
The explosion did. however, spew
ash 30.000 feet into the air. scientists
said. Drifting ash headed generally
southeast, and reports of some ashfall
came from as far away as The Dalles,
about OS miles southeast of the moun
tain. said Steve Brantley, a geologist
with the U S. Geological Survey in Van
couver.
The explosion was recorded on volca
no seismographs at 2:07 a m PST. said
Chris Jonientz. -Trisler, a research scien
tist at the University of Washington's
seismology laboratory in Seattle.
The weather service in Seattle issued
a flash-flood watch for people along the
north fork of the Toutle River in U;wis.
Cowlitz and Skamania counties, hut
canceled it at 7 a m Forecasters said
flooding was not likely because of the
relatively small amount of snow on the
B.364-foot mountain located about 100
mill's south of Seattle
Jonientz-Trisler said the explosion
was "very minor, minor, minor” com
pared with the May 18, 1980 eruption
that leveled 230 square miles of forest,
left 57 people dead or missing and sent
up an ash cloud that circled the globe.
"This kind of thing is more like the
steam and ash explosions that occurred
last winter in December and January."
she said "Any hazards should la* fairly
confined to the crater.”
Scientists who monitor the volcano
say there has lawn a gradual increase in
small earthquakes at the volcano over
the past three years. But there was no
evidence they were associated with
Monday's event. Jonientz-Trisler said.
"Whether there's a direct tie-in isn't
real obvious." she said. "These little
blasts don't really shed a whole lot of
light on that."
In the past, swarms of larger earth
quakes have occurred in the days before
eruptions of Mount St. Helens.
On Monday, however, "there were
some very, very tiny ones that didn't
even register sufficiently to record a
magnitude for them." she said.
Continued from Page 5
ity's quest for new anti greater adren
alin rushes.
The cords bungee jumpers entrust
their lives to are considerably hardier
than the ones dad used.
Used to drop jeeps and tanks from
cargo planes, each cord has a mini
mum holding strength of 1.5(H)
pounds. Dale said Dale uses a four
cord system
l-ocking carabiners. and a seat-and
ehest harness designed for mountain
climbing, complete the system,
which Dale said is rated at fi.000
pounds overall.
A 160-pound jumper falling 1(H)
feet generates only about 400 pounds
of force.
"I have back-up systems on my
back-up systems." Dale said of his
safety procedures, which he feels are
a must for any high-risk activity.
The sport is apparently safe then,
or at least safe enough to satisfy the
approximately .'1(H) University stu
dents who have jumped through
Dale’s operation.
One jumper described her jump as
"the most terrifying feeling in the
world It was a good terrifying, not a
Ivad terrifying."
What primitive urge is compelling
(racks of students to leap from
bridges?
For most students, the reasons for
bungee jumping can Ire boiled down
to one: the quest for a new and better
rush.
Bungee jumping offers an electrify
ing yet legal high that anyone can ex
perience without societal backlash
“They don't call it the 'elevator to
hell' for nothing.” said Tyler McKin
ley. a University junior.
Dale said he believes bungee jump
ing affects people long after their ini
tial thrill.
"It has a potential to give people a
whole different view of themselves."
Dale said. "A lot of people don't see
themselves as risk-takers. They see
themselves living mundane lives ...
tmdding along, going to class.”
The experience of jumping can
shatter an existence that has stagnat
ed like the Millrace. and help stu
dents live by the motto of the Oregon
Bungee Masters: carpe diem - seize
the day.
Dale, in an enlightened moment of
bungee philosophy, quoted a Hopi
Indian saying.
“When you have faced death di
rectly. you are immortal for that mo
ment," he said.
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