MND Group: TAS heralds a new era for avalanche control systems

Having installed more than 3,000 avalanche triggers around the world, the French manufacturer TAS (MND Group)—the only company to develop a remote-controlled, nonexplosive, gas-powered system—protects ski resorts, mines railway tracks and roads at risk from avalanches.

Their last invention, named O'BellX, goes even further. It's mobile, green and configured for delicate operations. The system is bringing avalanche control into a new era—one that is ultra-precise and controlled. To make it simple, it is responsible.

By developing the first gas-powered avalanche control system (Gazex) near the end of in the 80s, the French manufacturer TAS (MND Group) created a different way to manage natural risks. This system, made up of a mix of gases (oxygen/propane) avoids storing and handling explosives. It is remotely activated using a computer.

Made in Saint-Hélène-du-Lac in the French Alps, fixed Gazex and then mobile, helicopter-transported DaisyBell avalanche triggers have gained traction. Nowadays, almost 3,000 of these French-made systems are used throughout the world in ski resorts, mining and industrial sites and road and rail infrastructures situated in particularly hazardous zones such as the Mont-Blanc tunnel, the ski slopes in Sochi, Russia, since the Olympic games in 2014, Codelco mines in Chile, or even the hills around motorways in Colorado, California, Nevada, Wyoming and Utah in the United States.

Weather stations and measuring masts to increase surveillance.

Climate change is adding to the complexity of understanding and managing avalanches, a phenomenon which is by definition completely random. According to the French National Institute for Environmental and Agricultural Science and Research, "Climate climate change directly impacts snowfall and the inherent risk of avalanches." It makes it necessary to find proactive tools that perform better.

This is why for the past two years TAS has been providing our users with additional monitoring tools for "before and after preventative trigger". Surveillance systems—weather stations, masts measuring the depth of snow—now allow operators to prevent avalanche conditions from appearing while avalanche detection radars confirm that all risks have been eliminated.

Greater integration with the environment

The most recent gas trigger made by TAS, patented like the others, is made specifically with sustainable risk management in mind. A truly mobile Gazex system, this type 3 avalanche control mechanism, named O'BellX, aims for seamless environmental integration. The bell is equipped with photovoltaic panels and is filled with a mix of gases. It is placed by helicopter on an easyto-install, fixed support post secured to the mountain slope that needs protection. O'BellX's environmental integration is reinforced by the non-polluting mix of gases it uses, with a base of oxygen and hydrogen. Rechargeable and detachable, this system has minimal visual impact and interests operators in particularly sensitive zones such as natural reserves where other technologies are not authorised to be used. "We can make the mountain safe and keep it natural", explains David Poulet, technical marketing manager at TAS, who is noticing a steady increase in sales for the O'BellX. More than a hundred have already been delivered, particularly in countries with heavy snowfall like France, Canada, the USA and Italy where no less than 53 mobile O'BellX avalanche control mechanisms will equip and protect the Gran Sasso and Dolomite National Parks this winter.

And in the future? "The O'BellX system will be used in emerging countries", confirms TAS. This winter, a first contract for four systems has been signed in Slovakia. These are key sites for TAS which, little by little, is transforming how avalanche control is carried out and considered through its non-polluting gas exploders which raise this preventative technology to new heights.

Milestones

1987–88. The Gazex fixed avalanche control system is created and houses a mix of propane and oxygen gas. Explosions are remotely triggered. Reference sites: Alpe d'Huez / Val Thorens (France)

2006-07. The DaisyBell mobile avalanche control system is transported by helicopter.

2011-12. The O'BellX mobile avalanche control system is made up of two parts: a fixed, 3- to 4-meter high support post and a mobile bell that is placed by helicopter and can be recharged in gas to make rotations easier and regularly trigger small- to medium-sized avalanches.