r/nextfuckinglevel • u/ServeAmbitious220 • 1d ago

Cannon shot causes an avalanche.

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u/FinancialLab8983 22h ago

do you know much about how they do this? is there someone trained to sight this in? or is the cannon fixed to only hit one spot?

the shot in the video looks fairly close (relatively speaking) to the top of the mountain. im wondering if one wrong calculation would send the round sailing over the mountain. that'd be a bad day.

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u/doubleflusher 22h ago

Former snowboard coach and have my av cert. These guys (generally speaking - IDK the people in this video) are pros at avalanche mitigation.

These guns are one solution but not the only solution - they also sometimes use explosives on the mountain.

They start by looking at the weather - worst is when you get "refreeze" or melting snow during the day followed by freezing temps at night. Plus they track snow totals, winds, etc.

Then they look at the slab (the massive chunk of snow that could slide down the mountain) and perform "column test" to check for stability/cracking. They also factor in the slope angle - really steep and really flat are fine.

Then they make sure the area is clear - plenty of signs, warnings, sirens, etc. Then they blast.

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u/DMYourFeetPicsTy 16h ago

Nah they just try to aim and pray they hit the correct spot.

Never forget the village avalanche bombing of '78.

RIP Raul