Avalanche Control Could Look Different From Now On

BOOOOM!!

We all know the sound of avalanche control. But how often do regular skiers get to see it done first-hand? We take it for granted, but mitigation work can be extremely dangerous. After all, those booms come from real bombs exploding.

Over the years, mitigation techniques have changed, but the principle of slab detonation remains the same. Crews fire artillery into loaded slopes, lower explosives from helicopters, and hike into exposed terrain to set hand charges. It’s a long tradition built on skill, experience, and a fair amount of hazard.

A Canadian tech company is introducing a safer way to manage snow, and now they've got government clearance. AVSS has received nationwide approval from Transport Canada to deploy its SnowDart drones for avalanche mitigation. The Precision Avalanche Management System (PAMS) uses autonomous flight software and pinpoint navigation to send drones into slide paths, drop eco-friendly explosives, and clear dangerous slopes before they threaten people or infrastructure.

But the drones aren't just for delivering explosives. They collect high-resolution terrain and snowpack data during each flight, helping avalanche teams improve operations and potentially search for avalanche victims.

AVSS has been developing their systems since 2020. Experimenting with avalanche mitigation technology has always meant getting tangled with red-tape. After all, if anything demanded good regulation, it would be explosives. With this approval, the company has made it out the other side.

The advantages are obvious: fewer patrollers in harm’s way, dramatically lower costs (helicopters are obscenely expensive), and the ability to operate in poor visibility or weather that might ground helicopters or knock fixed avalanche control systems offline.

Drones aren't replacing every artillery blast or heli drop-- at least not yet. But they could shift the balance of avalanche control. What used to take hours of manpower and a good measure of personal risk can now be done much fast. Even better, the work is done without putting bodies on the line.

For the people who spend their winters standing under loaded cornices with a lit fuse in hand, here's a method worth paying attention to.