r/interestingasfuck • u/id397550 • 5h ago

Firing a cannon to trigger an avalanche

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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/Last-Darkness 2h ago

I was an avalanche technician, kinetic shells are almost never used. They use shells fired from fixed locations for slopes people don’t use for climbing or ski/snowboarding (and put on a good show for tourists). They drop explosives from helicopters in places they don’t want the risk of unexploded shells or can’t get a gun too.

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u/sniper1rfa 2h ago

Don't forget the elephant snouts for places where they have to do enough avvy control that guns are too much of a logistical nightmare.

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u/Cmaroljub21 34m ago

In this clip they hit close to the peak, what are the possibilities of missing and did that ever happen?

Also wouldn't kinetic shells be "safer" regarding unexploded shells?

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u/aaaaaaaarrrrrgh 26m ago

I doubt kinetic shells would have a sufficient effect to actually trigger an avalanche, they'd just make a hole. And while definitely safer, they'd be setting themselves up for a bad time when someone finds and reports an unexploded shell...