Post by @gzreel

This avalanche had an appointment. Avalanche crews fire artillery shells into unstable slopes on purpose, with the terrain below sealed off and empty. The explosion sends a shock through the snowpack that fractures the buried weak layer holding the entire slab in place, so the mountain drops its snow on the crew's schedule instead of nature's. A small controlled slide today removes the snow that would have grown into a massive uncontrolled one tomorrow. The method dates back to 1949, when a World War Two mountain trooper first turned a howitzer on a ski slope in Utah, and it worked so well that snow safety programs around the world never stopped. The crew in this footage guards the slopes of Mount Elbrus, the tallest mountain in Europe. A weapon of war retrained to save lives. Love Technology? Follow @gzreel Media: Terskol chalets #avalanche #skiing #mountains #technology #Science