Kaboom!

Kaboom! I knew immediately what it was. I had been out photographing some winter scenes around town. I was about to pack up and walk home, when I heard this familiar sound. Dynamite! Fortunately, I still had my camera in my hand and a telephoto lens mounted on it.

I spun around and began shooting pictures of the snow cascading down the face of EEOR (the East End of Mount Rundle). An avalanche.

Not to worry, it was 2.5 km away (1.55 miles), close enough for a good view but no threat to my person or that of anyone else. Provincial authorities were conducting avalanche control to prevent an unplanned snowslide onto Highway 742, near the foot of the east face of the mountain. Avalanche control is a planned event. The road is closed to traffic. Dynamite is dropped from a helicopter on the accumulated snow to trigger the slide. Once all the snow has been knocked down, the road is plowed and traffic resumes.

Following are two shots from a sequence I took, the first soon after the slide was triggered and the second as the snow approached the bottom of its descent.

I took both photographs using a 70-200mm telephoto lens. Avalanche EEOR was taken with a focal length of 115 mm. I zoomed in closer for Heads UP! with a focal length of 155 mm. It was very impressive and I was very fortunate to be in the right place with the right equipment when it happened.