http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek

"Snowfall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek", by John Branch is a digitally produced, multimodal journalistic story. It was published through the New York Times in 2012 and was built by a team of engineers, programmers, and writers off the foundation of the story that John Branch had produced.

The reader is introduced to the story through means of an animated title screen. This screen contains author information, publishing details, and the title of the story. The combination of a snow filled title and the color tone of the background, creates an atmosphere that mirrors the type of story being told. Due to its nature, it also instantaneously conveys to the reader that the story is not a traditional journalistic piece. The reader then scrolls down and is met with the text of the story. Throughout the text, videos, imagery, and animations are intertwined but do not distract from the narrative. They are almost transparent until the  reader hovers over them with their mouse. This level of interaction gives control to the reader who would then, want to absorb as much information as is offered. The simple act of scrolling through the story acts as a transistor for the piece with animations and graphics seamlessly appearing among the text. Other tools of the digital platform such as hyper links contribute extra information for those who would choose to learn more about the background. In Snowfall this is usually extra background information on the people involved in the narrative or other scientific data. The option of choice for the reader is what gives this piece a pleasing aesthetic form. 

The writing of Snowfall is exemplary. Once again the traditional forms of journalism are present as the story begins with a hook in the form of human peril. The reader is introduced to the characters who tell their tale of human tragedy through text, images, and audio interviews. These elements are placed in the story in such a way that the reader wants to explore them but at the same time, they are not integral to the overall narrative. The overall amount of content is staggering as the information spans over several pages. The videos and animations are highly detailed and work well on any platform that they are being viewed. Included with the text are interviews with the people in the story that further bring the human relationship with the narrative and the reader to life. 

With the financial backing of the New York Times, Snowfall demonstrates what a team of developers and journalists can produce on the digital platform. The piece is offered for free off of the New York Times website and is accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Because it is a free piece there is no pay-wall or subscription based system necessary to view the article which opens it up to a large amount of readers. The reader has quite a substantial amount of control over the piece as they scroll through. Images have the option to be enlarged, videos can be ignored or played depending on how much information they want to absorb, and animations fade in and out as the user scrolls. The multimodal elements are simple to use and require no expertise in dealing with technology. 

The piece utilizes the readers senses by transitioning between different stimuli seamlessly. This is done by giving the reader control over what they view while at the same time, making sure that the elements are integral parts of the story. The animations portray the elements of the text that are better understood through visual demonstration. By doing this, the reader can grasp a better understanding of what the narrative is attempting to explain and teach. Snowfall, by manipulating the reader's senses, is able to create an atmospheric narrative that transcends traditional print media.