Pre-emptively triggering an avalanche forms part of the safety procedures at many ski resorts. Following heavy snowfall, specialist teams take action before the resort opens to stabilise certain areas and reduce the risk of uncontrolled avalanches.
Preventative snow-clearing has historically been part of the role of certain specialist piste technicians, a fact that I Love Ski had already highlighted in its interview with Hélène Zamora, piste manager and explosives expert.
However, there is an obvious paradox: in order to reduce the danger, professionals may have to move closer to the very place where it is concentrated. Mammoth Mountain aims to reduce this exposure through a $5.7 million investment in remote avalanche control systems (RACS). The project involves 16 new installations: 15 at Mammoth Mountain and one at neighbouring June Mountain.
According to Alterra Mountain Company, which owns both resorts, the project has been in development for nearly a decade, involving studies, testing, regulatory procedures and collaboration with avalanche specialists and manufacturers.
This investment illustrates the long-standing interest of ski resorts in ensuring that certain tasks can be carried out remotely, thereby reducing the need for professionals to physically access the most exposed areas.
Technology changes the nature of the risk, but not the responsibility of the pyrotechnician
Automating the preventive detonation does not remove the blaster from the equation. What it does change is the level of risk to which they are exposed during a particularly delicate part of their work.
Ski resort teams still have to analyse all the factors to be taken into account regarding the risk of an avalanche. These include, amongst others, the snowpack, interpreting the weather and wind-driven snow transport, identifying unstable areas, and deciding when to take action and when a section can be opened.
“The remote system carries out an action; risk assessment remains a human task.”
It is a particularly sensitive issue during periods of heavy snowfall. In an interview published by I Love Ski in April 2026, David Ponson, director of the Mountain and Ski Areas Division at Compagnie des Alpes, explained the extent to which days with an avalanche risk rating of 4/5 or even 5/5 put the resort’s organisation under strain. Piste officers, operations managers and other teams are then faced with a dual challenge: ensuring the safety of the ski area whilst doing so in weather conditions that also increase their own exposure to risk.
In this context, the value of remote systems does not lie in replacing that experience, but in preventing certain technical decisions from systematically forcing a person to be sent to the most dangerous location.
From manual explosives to remote-controlled systems
The RACS systems that Mammoth is installing are part of a much longer-term development. At many resorts, explosive charges are still carried and set off by the piste teams themselves. In other cases, helicopters are used to reach couloirs or slopes that are difficult to access.
Over time, solutions have emerged designed to increase the distance between the miner and the hazard: cable-based systems such as CATEX; pneumatic devices such as Avalancheur; fixed installations such as GAZEX and GAZFLEX, which generate a pressure wave through a gas explosion; or Wyssen towers, capable of releasing charges onto the roof from remotely operated installations.
And these systems are constantly being installed in ski resorts. For example, MND, the manufacturer of GAZEX and GAZFLEX, claims to have more than 2,600 installations across some twenty countries.
Development continues. In April 2026, MND unveiled the O’BellX 1.8, a detachable, remote-controlled system capable of firing up to 60 rounds before reloading and delivering 40 per cent more power than the previous version.
Artificial intelligence is also beginning to be incorporated into monitoring systems. In Evolène, Switzerland, two long-range Doppler radars use a model based on neural networks to improve avalanche detection and reduce false alarms, providing information to the specialists responsible for making decisions.
When avalanche control involves the use of artillery
One of the most striking examples of this drive to maintain a safe distance remains the use of military technology. In the United States, howitzers are still used to reach areas that are too dangerous to send workers into. The programme, coordinated by the US Forest Service, maintains artillery for preventive avalanche control at several ski resorts, including Mammoth Mountain. Below you will find a National Geographic video showing the use of Second World War artillery to trigger avalanches from a distance of 11 kilometres.
Although it may seem like technology from a bygone era, it operates on the same principle as today’s remote systems: delivering energy to the unstable area without first having to send a person there.
The drone opens up a new avenue for triggering avalanches
The latest development comes from the air, but without the need to put a crew at risk. Drones have already been used in Europe to transport cargo for preventive deployment. In 2026, however, this technology took a significant step forward in the United States: the FAA authorised the operation of MONTIS, a system developed specifically for avalanche control using drones.
MONTIS can carry two explosive charges and deposit or detonate them at different heights above the snowpack. Its ignition system is electronic and allows the charges to be controlled whilst in flight.
“WHAT MAY CHANGE IS WHO OR WHAT PHYSICALLY ENTERS THE AREA OF HIGHEST EXPOSURE.”
Other countries, such as Austria and Norway, have also tested or used drones to deliver explosives to hard-to-reach areas. The main advantage lies in combining some of the mobility of a helicopter with the ability to operate without putting a flight crew at risk.
However, there is no one-size-fits-all technology either. Wind, visibility, load capacity, range and the strict regulations governing the transport and use of explosives continue to limit their deployment. A single site may combine manual charges, helicopters, fixed installations, cable systems, drones or remote-controlled systems, depending on its terrain, accessibility and exposure.
From a payload carried on skis to an explosive delivered by a drone, the tools have changed radically. Knowledge of the terrain and decision-making still rest with the specialist; what technology is seeking to change is who has to physically approach the danger.
