Explosive Gas Anti-Avalanche System

Photo: TAS

Is that a spout in the middle of a mountain? Actually, yes it is. Pruned blog has a neat article about Gazex, an anti-avalanche system that uses explosive gas to trigger controlled (smaller) avalanches to avoid the big fatal ones:

From a distance, they look like disembodied talons jutting out from the rockface, ready to prick at imminent disasters. With their array of remote sensors, they are constantly reading the landscape; the mountains are kept under constant surveillance, lest they want to endanger quaint Alpine hamlets and new luxury ski resort developments above Denver or lose skiers to the wintry wilds.

When an avalanche is deemed likely, it detonates a mixture of oxygen and propane gas in its explosion chamber. The resulting hot gas is then directed downwards to the zone at risk.