VIDEO: Patrollers Use WWII Howitzers for Avalanche Blasting at Mammoth Mountain, CA

On California’s Mammoth Mountain, the powder is great, but the risks are real. When large snowfalls and intense winds merge into avalanches, things get risky on steep slopes.

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To keep thousands of skiers and snowboarders safe high in the Sierras, ski patrollers like Matt Seibert fight off dangerous avalanches using a not-so-secret weapon: World War II-era cannons.