Villages, traffic routes and snow sports areas in the Alps are latently threatened by avalanches. The intensive snowfalls in January impressively demonstrated the important role helicopters play in securing habitats in mountain areas. A mission report.
“90 seconds,” Otti Flepp shouts into the intercom of the Ecureuil floating in place. He had just leaned out of the helicopter's sliding open door and dropped a five-kilo pole of Tovex gelatin explosive into the snowblown slope below him. “Once ignited, it takes one and a half minutes for detonation.” Flepp is a mountain guide and safety officer for Pro Lucmagn, an association that ensures winter-safe transport connections across the Lukmanier Pass.
“We used to shoot with mortars too, but that was far too imprecise,” Flepp remembers after placing a further five loads precisely on the slope above Lukmanierstraße. Together with pilot Adrian Roffler and flight assistant Daniel Caminada, he now observes from a safe distance whether all charges detonate and how the triggered avalanches occur. “Without a helicopter, we would probably no longer be able to keep the road open in winter.”
As soon as the last of the six charges has detonated, pilot Roffler brings the red and white H125 Ecureuil into position over a new slope. Otti Flepp leans out of the open door again and places explosive charge after explosive charge again. The team is well-rehearsed, only a few words are needed. “The local crews know the valleys like the back of their hand,” says Flepp on the short return flight. On the north side of the pass, Pro Lucmagn works with Swiss Helicopter; in the south, the crews of the Ticino Heli Rezia fly.
After 20 minutes, the mission is over. Flepp lets himself be dropped off by a helicopter and watches him fly back to the base in Tavanasa.
Many mountain valleys could not be inhabited all year round without a helicopter
“When securing traffic routes and ski areas, the helicopter is a very cheap and flexible way to trigger avalanches in a targeted manner,” confirms Christian Wilhelm, responsible for protection against natural hazards at the Bündner Office for Forest and Natural Hazards. “The helicopter is still essential when it comes to artificially triggering avalanches, as you are very flexible in terms of space.”
“Many mountain valleys could not be inhabited all year round without helicopter operations,” says Patrick Fauchère, base manager of Air Glaciers in Sion and board member of the Swiss Helicopter Association.
It is not only villages, roads and railway lines that would be protected from avalanche accidents with explosions. “A large part of our blasting operations are now used to secure runways. The people of Valais and their holiday guests depend on safe connections and slopes. Helicopters and local crews familiar with the area play a very important role here.” A whopping 10 tons of explosives were used at the Sion base alone in December and January. That is significantly more than in the previous two years.
Avalanche protection on slopes has become even more demanding
“Helicopter operations have become an integral part of avalanche protection for mountain railways and snow sports areas,” says Andreas Keller from the Swiss Cable Car Association. However, the boom in freeriding in deep snow has made avalanche protection on slopes even more demanding: “There is now an increase in skiing slopes from which avalanches can reach the marked slopes. This must be prevented, even though, from a legal point of view, snow sports enthusiasts are generally responsible if they trigger avalanches off secured slopes and thus endanger third parties.”
Explosive masts are increasingly being installed where it is necessary to blow up again and again. These can explode remotely, even at night or when visibility is very poor. But even with explosive towers, nothing works without a helicopter: The masts' magazines must be constantly reloaded with new explosive charges. And helicopters do that too, of course.
This article by Christian Gartmann was published in the aviation magazine “Cockpit” (March 2018). It was produced on behalf of the Swiss Helicopter Association (SHA).