“This just gives us another tool in the toolbox,” said AVSS Co-Founder Josh Ogden, speaking about the Canadian tests to use drones for avalanche control, according to sources close to the company’s Innovative Solutions Canada testing program in Jasper, Alberta in early 2026.
But what makes the tests there significant is less their success in using a drone to carry and deploy an explosive. What makes them significant is that an operation traditionally conducted by helicopter, stationary installations, artillery, or ground crewmen working in exposed conditions was tried by a new aircraft platform meant to reduce human exposure to unstable snow. In mountain operations, reducing exposure is half the battle in any attempt to control avalanches.
Through Innovative Solutions Canada, which coordinates the efforts of multiple agencies within government departments across the country, AVSS completed trials of its Precision Avalanche Management System during February and March 2026 in Jasper, Alberta. Using the drone-delivered payload developed through ISC, the company is testing a delivery system that includes a mechanism activated by remote ignition of the charge to trigger detonation.
Central to the design of this system, perhaps even more important than the drone carrying the explosives package, is that the detonation of the charge occurs when the aircraft reaches the predetermined altitude a safety function that suggests how critical procedure becomes in using such drones for avalanche control. It is easy to overlook this part.
Evaluation of any avalanche mitigation system relies on the consistency with which it can be deployed as well as limitations to its deployment due to weather conditions and terrain characteristics. According to some sources close to the test team in Jasper, testing resulted in the identification of optimal drop height, safe flight techniques in mountainous regions, and potential integration with existing avalanche management protocols without entirely replacing them. The latter consideration corresponds with Parks Canada’s stance on drone-based avalanche control as being potentially helpful in certain cases without becoming the sole method of addressing the problem, especially considering the limitations imposed on aircraft flight and activity by the weather conditions.
These considerations take on greater significance considering the risks involved with failing to address them. As Parks Canada reports, the Trans-Canada Highway 1 corridor in Glacier National Park faces potential hazards from 135 different avalanche paths a fact that underscores the direct link between avalanche management and accessibility, mobility, and protection from harm. In Utah, too, the transition from howitzers to Wyssen avalanche towers in the Little Cottonwood Canyon region above Highway 190 is a telling example of that industry trend.
The evolution of the drone from an imaging tool to a payload-delivery and manipulation device fits into a broader narrative. From the AVSS perspective, the avalanche control platform emerged from the development of drone technology that enables the delivery of goods and services to inaccessible regions. This background provides a key context for considering how the Jasper test became such an important milestone. Transport, park, and ski operations alike are already familiar with unmanned aircraft technology. Now, they must consider whether these aircraft can be integrated into their operations with sufficient consistency.