Aerial View of Kootenay Pass

Yesterday, at work I had the opportunity to tour the Kootenay Pass and get a first hand look at the Avalanche Terrain and Gaz Ex exploders. It was a real eye opener to see how steep some of the terrain is from the air, especially the east side North Fork area.

Currently the Ministry has 22 Gaz Ex exploders along the pass.

Even spotted some ski tracks from the air, even though there is only about 20 cm of snow on the pass. Still a little too rocky for me.

The landscape shots are of the no name ridge on the west side of the pass. The pictures of the exploders are from the north fork east side.

Than you for sharing those neat photos. A while back I ate lunch somewhere in the area but didn't get high enough up to see much. Those exploders sure are interesting devices - no duds to pick up after and lots of roast snow afterwards.

out of sheer curiosity : is the explosion chambers dug in the solid rock,like tunnels and stuff?
Or is the gas expoded in the tube itself?

If there is a separate camber inside the bedrock,no wonder the shite is expensive..



Edit: i mean someone said in the alps that the pipe is only the visible part of the structure,that the gas+explosion chamber is in the rock and the pipe is only to direct the blast. Seems unneccessary complicate as you could think the pipe itself can take the neccessary pressure to have the explosion in it?

I guessing the cables on the side are ignition related and therefore the explosion is in the tube.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Meathelmet

out of sheer curiosity : is the explosion chambers dug in the solid rock,like tunnels and stuff?
Or is the gas expoded in the tube itself?

If there is a separate camber inside the bedrock,no wonder the shite is expensive..



Edit: i mean someone said in the alps that the pipe is only the visible part of the structure,that the gas+explosion chamber is in the rock and the pipe is only to direct the blast. Seems unneccessary complicate as you could think the pipe itself can take the neccessary pressure to have the explosion in it?

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http://www.groupemnd.com/tas/anglais/gaz_ex_plus.html

the explosion is in the pipe, the lines to get there are in the rock

Thanks for sharing these unique POV's. Still lean up there last week. Hopefully it is filling in now.

I think one of those devices is used to start avalanches in the Laurie slide path near Albert Canyon ( across from Twins and Lanark ). Albert Canyon has nice places for lunch as well.

What is your line of work that gets you up flying around the Pass??