Wicked big gun, used to start preemptive avalanches

[namedpipes]

I'm doing way preplanning for a post retirement road trip. It'll include a loop around Canada including Yellowknife, Tuktoyuktuk, Corner Gas and whatever remote destys I can fit in. Then Deadhorse, Alaska via the Dalton Highway (which is where this post comes in), then loosely follow the Pan American Highway to Ushuaia. And back of course. Basically, anywhere I can get to in a camper.

I was watching this video on the Dalton Highway and saw a whopper of a Korean war era breach loading 105mm recoilless rifle being used to incite little planned avalanches before they become big unplanned ones.



If the indexing doesn't work, go to around 25:20 for the rifle action.

 

[Dennis in MA]

I think I first saw that sort of thing in the late 70's on either Real People or That's Incredible. (Real People had Peter Billingsly of A Christmas Story, as ewll as Sarah Purcell. . . Byron Allen - yes TAHT Byron Allen and. . . . Skip Stephenson, the only no-known. I htink Fred Willard was also on that. But it was a Fri Nite goofy show. That's Incredible was. . . Fran Tarkenton, Cathy Something, oh gosh, I've forgotten. Wait. The guy with the huge head. David Something. They had The Amazing Randy on once a year. Sunday nights.)

Anyhow, they had a whole segment on Rockies area ski resorts using this as well as helicopter-dropped charges to ensure their clientele didn't die in avalanches.

 

[Rockrivr1]

I've seen the same being used over at Vail many years ago as they were doing some preemptive avalanche work. Pretty impressive, though I have to imagine they'd either run out of ammo at some point or pay some big bucks to have a private industry make the rounds for them.

 

[Wickedcoolname]

I think I first saw that sort of thing in the late 70's on either Real People or That's Incredible. (Real People had Peter Billingsly of A Christmas Story, as ewll as Sarah Purcell. . . Byron Allen - yes TAHT Byron Allen and. . . . Skip Stephenson, the only no-known. I htink Fred Willard was also on that. But it was a Fri Nite goofy show. That's Incredible was. . . Fran Tarkenton, Cathy Something, oh gosh, I've forgotten. Wait. The guy with the huge head. David Something. They had The Amazing Randy on once a year. Sunday nights.)

Anyhow, they had a whole segment on Rockies area ski resorts using this as well as helicopter-dropped charges to ensure their clientele didn't die in avalanches.

John Davidson and Cathy Lee Crosby

 

[namedpipes]

I've seen the same being used over at Vail many years ago as they were doing some preemptive avalanche work. Pretty impressive, though I have to imagine they'd either run out of ammo at some point or pay some big bucks to have a private industry make the rounds for them.

The rifleman said they're shooting "bullets" [sic] made in 1952-3. And the charge in the shell is 4.5 lbs of TNT.

 

[Asaltweapon]

Saw it on Discovery I think a few years back. Looked like a lot of fun to me.

 

[LibertyTreeLandscaping]

Yea 'avalanches' suuuuure

 

[KBCraig]

In NH, we usually rely on stupid skiers on rotten snow to trigger avalanches.

In a pinch, we drop dynamite out of a helicopter.

(Okay, I haven't heard of them doing that lately. But it's been done.)

 

[PatMcD]

I think I first saw that sort of thing in the late 70's on either Real People or That's Incredible. (Real People had Peter Billingsly of A Christmas Story, as ewll as Sarah Purcell. . . Byron Allen - yes TAHT Byron Allen and. . . . Skip Stephenson, the only no-known. I htink Fred Willard was also on that. But it was a Fri Nite goofy show. That's Incredible was. . . Fran Tarkenton, Cathy Something, oh gosh, I've forgotten. Wait. The guy with the huge head. David Something. They had The Amazing Randy on once a year. Sunday nights.)

Anyhow, they had a whole segment on Rockies area ski resorts using this as well as helicopter-dropped charges to ensure their clientele didn't die in avalanches.

This has been bugging me for a few days now: there's no way the kid from A Christmas Story was on Real People. RP was on in the late 70's-early 80's. Peter Billingsly starred in ACS in 1983 as a kid.

 

[caboose84]

Arapahoe Basin in Colorado had a couple of pneumatic cannons to launch charges into the eastern wall to open up walk in skiing. They'd also have patrollers hike in on the upper edges and hand toss charges.

At Monarch pass, they'd have ski patrollers and CDOT hand toss charges in the slide areas over highway 50 to kick up avalanches, then CDOT would clear the road. They recently put in massive air pressure guns to avoid having to walk the charges in, and speed up the process.

Worked at Monarch ski area several winters when I owned the campground and drove the employee shuttle van up. Managed to go just ahead of an avalanche one time (snow was rolling by the rear tires), that put about a foot and a half on the road and closed the highway until CDOT cleared the road. That was a bit of a pucker factor drive.

 

[garandman]

I've seen the same being used over at Vail many years ago as they were doing some preemptive avalanche work. Pretty impressive, though I have to imagine they'd either run out of ammo at some point or pay some big bucks to have a private industry make the rounds for them.

They use air cannons. Or helicopters with dropped charges. Best job evah!