 Poster: A snowHead
|
I've often seen these pipes, about 3ft diameter sticking out of the side of the top of a mountain. What are they?
They LOOK as if they are something to do with avalanche prevention but as they are fixed that doesn't seem very practical.
Anyone got ideas?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
they are marmotte cannons, aparently it is the only way to blast them off the mountain safely 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
Marmotte breathing holes - to compensate for the fact that pisted snow is more compact and doesn't let as much O2 through...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
I think you are referring to Gazex (gaz explosif - explosive gas) avalanche prevention systems http://www.gaz-ex.com/anglais/index.html. They are quite common in France and are sited in known danger areas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
If you see them with a blue ring around them, its a beer tap of Kronenbourg for Charlatanefc 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bruski, Thats the one (although the link didn't load).
So how do they work?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
OK I had a look at that site and I see now TA! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
They are the entrances to so-called marmotte cities, created to give them sanctuary from the environmental ravages inflicted by snowsports enthusiasts. These aren't cities as we know them as they are smaller, designed for quadripeds and don't have as good connections to local airports.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
|
Yes they are Gazex Gas Exploders for Avalanche control.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WTF does this mean ?
an indirect sympathetic effect on the adjacent snow mantle.
badly translated or marketing boll*cks ?? !!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
.... and _I_ thought they were part of the game known as Wombat.... an ancient and venerable sport loosely based on the 'rat in a tube' game that used to be found at school fetes around the more genteel areas of this country, where a small stuffed fabric rat (the 'wom') would be inserted into one end of a long tube, and 'small child with bat' would be placed at the other, and persuaded, through either gift or penance, to swat the 'wom' as it appeared at the other end of the tube.
clearly, as time went by, the search for bigger and badder tubes (and, presumably, 'woms') has continued unabated.
The 'bat' can be fashioned from the nearest available skier/boarder (depending upon your disposition to the 'other type', one can leave the skier/boarded attached to the 'bat' whilst in use).
for anyone who doubts the veracity of this story, I can point you in the direction of a young, beautiful (but rather impressionable) german au-pair I had the pleasure of entertaining one night on a cold mountain.... but that's another story.
Presumably using them in lieu of snow caves is not to be recommended.....
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
Not to be confused with the air ducts for the mont Blanc tunnel!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
| backhojo wrote: |
WTF does this mean ?
an indirect sympathetic effect on the adjacent snow mantle.
badly translated or marketing boll*cks ?? !!! |
Like when you pluck a string on a guitar and provoke a "sympathetic" vibration in the body of the instrument. It is a real technical term but rather opaque if you don't know it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
BUMP!
On the subject of things sticking out of the snow what is this chain sticking out of the snow for? They can be found all over the La Plagne ski area, it was suggested that they are winch points for Pisten Bully's but they can be found on shallow open areas as well as steeper areas?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
No! That's obviously Welsh leisure centre and obviously someone is in the process of interviewing a couple of sheep to be manacled there. 
Incoming!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
Nope, they are a French version of determining if someone is a witch or not. They are chained to the pole during a snow storm, if they are buried in the morning i.e a good powder day then obviously they must be innocent.
If however they are still visible and above the snow level obviously they must have used their magical powers to stop the snowfall and ruin the powder for the rest of us. Guilty then as charged 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
boredsurfin, That doesn't look a big enough chain for it to be a winch anchor. The one for the stade in Meribel is a very big metal post.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
saw lots of those pipes throughtout the avalanche vunreable areas in the milky way. never really noticed them before.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Latest theory is that they are connected to manhole covers to access the snowmaking pipeline network, nearly everyone we have noticed this holiday has been had the snow cleared around it, but not enough to see what it is connected to 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
http://www.latania.co.uk/other/Gazex/gazex.htm
| Quote: |
Gazex: real prevention
Designed and manufactured by T.A.S. since 1988, Gazex is the best remote avalanche control system ever developed.
The way it works.
Gazex explodes an oxygen/propane gas mixture in specifically designed exploder tubes located at the top end of risk zones. The exploders are connected to gas storage tanks with capacities high enough to operate for the whole season without re-filling.
Explosively effective!
When the gas mixture explodes, the force of the explosion is directed towards the snow, producing three effects:
a direct push into snow under the open end of the exploder.
a shock wave that produces an overpressure and then a negative pressure that lifts up the snow.
an indirect sympathetic effect on the adjacent snow mantle. |
http://www.tas-fr.com/anglais/gaz_ex.html
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Those chains are usually located about a foot off all the main runs in most major resorsts nowadays, they're basically free-to-use S&M sites specifically aimed at Boarders.....idea is to keep the gimps off the pistes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
