A helicopter swoops over the mountains above the Milford Road and drops explosives. Snow and ice cascade down, and when everything has settled, the area is much safer for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who will use the road below.
Each year, close to one million visitors travel the remote and rugged State Highway 94 from Te Anau to Milford Sound to reach the popular tourist destination in Fiordland National Park.
But behind the postcard-perfect scenery of glaciers, steep cliffs and waterfalls lies a high-stakes operation to keep the road open and safe no matter the weather, including using explosives to trigger avalanches before nature does.
The Milford Road Alliance, a partnership between the NZ Transport Agency and Downer, is tasked with
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