New Drone Tech Triggers Avalanches From the Sky (Video)

Originally posted on Powder | By Ian Greenwood | Last updated Mar 12, 2026 6:00 AM ET

Avalanche mitigation has come a long way.

Explosives, which are used to trigger avalanches before they can strike unsuspecting skiers or drivers, have long been a core part of the program. The delivery vehicle for those explosives, however, varies wildly.

In Utah’s Little Cottonwood Canyon, military howitzers famously trigger slides from afar. More recently, static towers that can be operated remotely trigger blasts without direct human involvement. Then, of course, there’s the classic approach: ski patrollers load up on bombs. Then, they march into the mountains and toss them at potential trigger zones.

The latest step in this ongoing evolution involves the company Drone Amplified, which, as its name implies, has developed a drone system aimed at changing the avalanche mitigation game.

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The system, called MONTIS, can carry charges high over snow-loaded slopes. This way, people don’t have to be exposed directly to avalanches or dangerous mountain weather.

“Our mission is simple: use robotics to make the most dangerous jobs safer. Avalanche mitigation crews protect communities every day. MONTIS helps them do that work more effectively,” said Carrick Detweiler, the CEO of Drone Amplified, in a news release.

Detweiler added that MONTIS has been developed over the past four years alongside the avalanche explosive manufacturer CIL and the Alaska Department of Transportation. The company is also working with the Federal Aviation Administration to “expand operational access.”

The goal, ultimately, is to bring the MONTIS to “other state transportation agencies and private entities nationwide.”

It isn’t Drone Amplified’s first technology. The company also built a drone system that drops small pellets that ignite after landing, allowing wildland firefighters to ignite prescribed burns remotely.

Another company is looking to make drones a new, robotic member of ski resort operations teams. Last year, the Japanese ski resort Nozawa Onsen shared how it was testing DJI’s Dock 3 as an aerial assistant that could assess the safety of ski slopes.

The resort also suggested that when skiers slid out-of-bounds, a drone could track them down and then play an audio recording telling them that they need to turn back (this one, we’ll admit, did sound dystopian).