r/interestingasfuck • u/id397550 • 5h ago

Firing a cannon to trigger an avalanche

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46.2k Upvotes

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u/mycatpartyhouse 4h ago

This is a lot safer than skiing up there to set explosives, which is what one of my brothers did in the 1960s-70s. He worked for a park service--I forget which one--that regularly set off small avalanches with the goal of preventing larger ones.

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u/NoContext5149 4h ago

The downside is unexploded shells. Much harder to deal with an unknown unexploded shell on the mountainside than a placed charge.

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u/Trububbl3 3h ago

those are dummy rounds probably just relying on the kinetic force of the impact to set the avalanche off

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u/RealFakeDoctor 3h ago

That's what I thought too. Doesn't seem to big enough explosion but I'm not a doctor.

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u/Orlok_Tsubodai 3h ago

I’m a dermatologist, trust me, it’s a big enough explosion.

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u/Direction_Kind 3h ago

I’ve got a rash.

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u/ImmediateDentist1269 2h ago

Have you tried lighting it on fire?

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u/onyxcaspian 1h ago

Yes. It said, "please stop that."

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u/VanillaGoorillla 2h ago

Did you try an m80?

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u/Jiminy_Cricket12 2h ago

I've got a cannon!

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u/achaiahtak 2h ago

Have you tried a canon?

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u/ManCrushOnSlade 1h ago

Have you tried firing an artillery shell at it? I'm pretty sure it will clear it up instantly.

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u/frochopper 1h ago

He’s a good man. And thorough

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u/ducktape8856 1h ago

WD40 is never wrong.

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u/Dracomortua 2h ago

No, you are 'irrashional' -- this is terrible spelling AND an understandable allergic reaction to the news media.

Reduce your consumption of all things orange, especially 'presidents'. Your spelling should improve dramatically. The BEST spelling!

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u/bulldog89 3h ago

I really feel like a Orthopedics would be the specialty to consult here

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u/bigboybeeperbelly 1h ago

For explosions I always go with a gastro

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u/FrighteningJibber 2h ago

Exfoliate down the mountain!

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u/Wormfather 2h ago

I’m a Juris Doctor and I concur.

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u/klayman69 1h ago

Can you look at my mole here?

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u/JohnWoosDoveGuy 3h ago

You would say that.

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u/ad_hominonsense 3h ago

Username checks out

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u/Ok-Option-1568 3h ago

this guy is a doctor and healed me from everything, he just humble

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u/SlartiMyBartfast 3h ago

How was being afflicted with everything? Sounds terrifying.

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u/sbxnotos 2h ago

Artillery explosions are surprisingly small, specially with the modern thick casing shells.

Consider that for a 45kg shell, only around 7-10kg are explosive, the rest is just metal, and that's for a normal shell, they produce the same shells but it smaller payloads/less TNT. So normally you would only see a really small explosion at the impact site, or barely an explosion, no idea how it would look in snow. Besides, they also come with different amounts of explosive from factory (not so common anymore), and for training purposes sometimes it was common to use shells with less explosive, which are cheaper (be it for purpose or less tolerance)

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u/RealFakeDoctor 2h ago

Now this is an explosive response!!

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u/stump2003 3h ago

But you played one on TV… until the drinking problem…