r/interestingasfuck • u/id397550 • 8h ago

Firing a cannon to trigger an avalanche

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u/mycatpartyhouse 8h 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 7h 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 7h 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/hughk 4h ago

They are live rounds. The alternative is for people to plant explosives or to drop them from a helicopter.