Millions of visitors descend（下来） on the Alps every winter, including a growing number of free-riding fans who like to go off-piste in search of deep powder snow. The fun can quickly take a dangerous turn if the snow breaks loose（松的） from the slope（斜坡） and starts to hurtle（碰撞） downhill. These Austrian（奥地利的） avalanche（雪崩） blasters risk their lives to ensure（保证） the slopes（斜坡） are safe. "There's always a risk, but we try to reduce that risk as much as possible." "Over there, two minutes, let's go." René Zizek manages the slopes of the Kichsteinhorn mountain in Salzburg.
René and his team start work at 6.30 in the morning. It's been snowing for the last few hours on the Kichsteinhorn, and there are strong winds. There's a high risk an avalanche could occur, so the team is going to trigger（引发） a blast（爆炸） to set off a series of controlled avalanches（雪崩）. "Let's see how it looks." "My guess is that on a day like this, there will be more to do at a higher altitude. It's extremely cold today. At the top, it will be minus 18, minus 19 degrees."
"Exciting. A good day for some explosions. We've got real winter weather today." According（使一致） to the weather forecast（预测）, there's likely to be as much as 50 centimeters of fresh snow. About half of it has already fallen. "50 to 20 centimeters of cold powder snow. It's minus 13 degrees now." Every minute counts.
The team has two hours to make（使） sure that glacier ski resorts（求助） 60 kilometers of piste are safe before the crowds start to arrive. They work in pairs. 25-year-old Christoph Beinschaupp is the youngest, and a new addition to the team. "We're packing the explosives（炸药）. We're about to head out to trigger（引发） some avalanches（雪崩）. Detonators and explosives are always handled（拿） separately. I'll carry the explosives in my backpack, and Rene will carry the detonators.
We'll be going out together." "This bag has the detonators in it. Once we're on site, we ignite（点火） them and get the fuse（保险丝） burning. This is two meters long. Then we have two minutes until the detonates. Let's get going." "I grew up in this world. My father was a peace manager here, and I've always been fascinated by it all.
I'm skiing, the mountains and avalanche blasting. It's my dream job." "This is where things start to get dangerous." "The path goes along there where the snow groomer is. Stay put there before the path turns off. Don't go further. We'll meet down below."
"It's so powdery." Rene and Kristoff have to be extremely careful. A slab（厚平板） of snow could break off at any time on these steep（陡峭的） slopes（斜坡） and sweep them away. At the top of the piece, they place the 2.5 kilogram plastic explosive on a wooden frame. It's situated（使位于） 1.5 meters above the fresh snow cover to maximize（取…最大值） the impact of the explosion. Once the fuse is burning, they have to evacuate（疏散） as quickly as possible.
"There's nobody on the slope. In about 1.5 minutes, there will be an explosion." "You should cover your ears." "That was it. The piece is clear. It's secured（保护）. Let's keep moving." The controlled avalanche they triggered has reduced the risk of a more serious one.
The piece is now safe. Meanwhile, Emmanuel and Wolfgang are hard at work further up the slopes. "We're about to trigger an explosion on the central slope. That's always high risk because it's pretty steep, and it's where the kids always play." But today, the dense（密集的） snow flurries are making（使） it difficult to see. "In the glacier area, you can only get your bearings（[机] 轴承） by looking for the ski lifts. Otherwise（另外）, it's just a wall of white. It's snowing and it's windy.
But I can just about make out the ski lift station, so that tells me where I am." "I'll go prepare the explosives. Once detonated, the slope is secured." "This is one of the most critical（决定性的） slopes（斜坡） in the whole ski area. There's a play area for children below." "When the wind blows over the rock face from the northwest, it settles（安排）. And the snowdrifts（被风刮在一起的雪堆） can be dangerous." "Our primary objective（目的） is making（使） sure the slopes（斜坡） are safe." Wolfgang has attached the explosive to a line.
That way, he can precisely（正好） position（安置） the explosive（炸药） on the slope（斜坡） and determine exactly where it will go off. "The first explosive is in position. In about one and a half minutes, it will detonate." "The explosion can be felt 50 meters away." "Nice one." "The explosion triggered a controlled avalanche. The service team will clear away the masses of snow and then open the slopes and the play area to the public." "In Austria alone, there were more than 100 avalanche accidents in 2021. 14 people were killed."
Engelberg Gleicher researches avalanches at the Department for Natural Hazards in Innsbruck. Today, he's in the Stubei Valley investigating the destructive（破坏的） forces of avalanches（雪崩）. "This is our test field. This protective（保护的） structure here is the so-called snow catcher." "Avalanches coming this way will end up here." "It comes from up there, hurtles downhill（下坡） and hits the snow catcher." "We fitted the structure with several sensors（传感器） that record the impact of the avalanche（雪崩）."
"This is the perfect testing ground for the researcher. Every year, huge masses of snow tumble more than 700 meters down the mountainside（山腹） directly into the safety net." "One of our sensors was destroyed in an avalanche. We've replaced it and I want to test it today to make sure it provides accurate（准确的） values." The snow catcher is still a prototype（原型）. Numerous（许多的） sensors（传感器） are installed along its supports and steel（钢） cables. When an avalanche hits, the sensors provide important data（资料） and insights（洞察力） into how people can best be protected. "So we're in the test area and we have two goals. We want to see how the structure reacts to the avalanche and how the structure affects the avalanche."
"When an avalanche hits a wall, for example, and that wall holds up, then the avalanche flows over the top of it, beside（在…旁边） it, it gets compacted（使紧凑）. But what happens when an avalanche（雪崩） hits a flexible structure, a net（纯粹的） structure?" "He installed two cameras to record the impact of each avalanche（雪崩）." "So if particles（颗粒） can flow through it, how fast do they flow? How are they redirected? That's something we want to study here." If the snow catcher prototype proves useful, it could soon be used to protect buildings and roads against avalanches.