05x13 - Snow Special

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: on this episode
of "mythbusters"...

[ Yodeling ]

It's the coolest show
on record

As the team heads
to the high country

To blast a blizzard of legends
in their first snow special.

Awesome.

For starters,

Jamie and adam literally
try to move a mountain,

As they attempt to summon up
a thunderous avalanche

With an alpine song,
a bullwhip...

[ Whip cracking ]

...and some rapid fire.

Then,
in a probing investigation,

Our trio finds out
if there's any idea dumber

Than licking a frozen pole...

Dude, look,
it's starting to rip the flesh.

Kari: ohh!

Narrator:
...and test if it's safer

To drive on icy roads...

Aah!

...backwards.
Kari: oh, oh, oh!

Are you trying to see how
many cones you can knock over?

Narrator:
who are the mythbusters?

Adam savage...

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.

...and jamie hyneman.

It's almost too exciting.

Narrator:
between them,

More than 30 years
of special-effects experience.

Cue dramatic music.

Narrator:
joining them -- kari byron...

Grant imahara...

Listen to that baby purr!

Narrator:
...and tory belleci.

Paramedics are
nowhere to be found.

Narrator:
they don't just tell the myths.

They put them to the test.

--[Font color="#ffff00"] captions by vitac[/font] --
[font color="#00ffff"]www.vitac.com[/font]

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Gather 'round the hot tub,
folks.

It's going to be glacial.

So, what's the myth?

Well, we are dressed
for cold weather,

And that's good
because we're gonna test

Whether or not you can start
an avalanche by yodeling.

So it's time to get
those vocal cords ready.

You think I can yodel?
I know you can.

You think I'm gonna yodel?
No, I don't.

[ Chuckles ]

This alpine myth
is as old as the hills.

Can this beloved form
of melodious mountain song

Set off a mighty avalanche?

[ Avalanche rumbling ]

The idea isn't as nonsensical
as it sounds.

In previous audio experiments,

The guys proved that sound waves
from the human voice

Are powerful enough
to shatter glass

And even extinguish a flame.

[ Men cheering ]

Now, using the same notion

In this ultimate auditory myth,

We're going to try to bring
a mountain to its knees.

You know, if we're doing
myths on avalanches,

We need to go
to the mountains.

I think you're right.
I think we will.

But, first, why don't we try
some scale experiments

Here in the shop,

See what we can learn
about them before we go?

Sure. Why not?

Before heading out,

Adam makes a mountain
by building a fiberboard tray

And attaches it
to a tiltable stand.

Instead of making
a mountain shape,

We've gone with a flat plane

To eliminate the variables of
the topography of the mountain.

Narrator:
they've got their mountain.

Now they need
some winter weather.

The guys secure a wooden frame
to the scissor lift

And staple a sheet of flyscreen
to the base.

[ Stapler clicking [

A couple of small pancake motors
mounted on the corners

Will really get things shaking.

Adam:
oh, that's great.

Narrator: next, they spread
a thick layer of flour

Over the mesh.

Adam: the screen is, hopefully,
gonna snow down our flour

In a really nice, even fashion.

And then let's see
if we can't start an avalanche

Here in the shop, in scale.

Okay, here we go.

Narrator: they raise
their giant sifter to the sky...

Jamie: we're gonna
have flour everywhere.

Narrator: ...and let it snow,
let it snow, let it snow.

You could use this

For rolling out dough
and stuff, you know.

Adam:
[ laughs ] yeah.

Narrator:
in mountainous regions,

The most common and destructive
kind of avalanche

Is called a slab avalanche --

When a strong, cohesive
layer of snow forms

On top of weak snow.

All it needs
is a trigger to break loose.

[ yodeling ]

So it's crucial
for adam and jamie

To get their scale test poised

At the most precarious
point possible.



As the flour slowly builds up,

They wait and watch
for the exact point

It all comes tumbling down.



I'm gonna k*ll it at 330.

Oh!

[ Sighs ]
it went at exactly 320.

Now that
they've got the trigger point

Timed right on the verge,
jamie grooms the run,

They recoat the slope...



k*ll it?

Okay.

...and are ready
to make some noise.

I think
it's really hair-trigger.

Okay.

Okay, let me give you
the decibel meter.

So, start out at 60.

And if I go higher than that,
just start dialing it up.

Adam may not be
a professional yodeler...

I'm gonna yodel at a soft volume
and slowly build up.

...but who doesn't know
and love

Such movie classics as "heidi"
and "the sound of music"?

[ Yodeling ]

His strange warble

Wouldn't have startled
a mountain goat.

That was 90.

Yodel!!

That's giving me a headache.
Okay, well...

I can't imagine
what it's doing to you.

Well, it definitely did nothing
to the snow.

[ Yodeling ]

All right, well, that's about
as loud as I can get.

I think it's time
to go to the megaphone.

A megaphone should take
this scale test to the max.

[ Yodeling ]

Yode-e-l!!

Is it off the charts?

Yeah, that was maxing it out
at 120.


As a jet engine, right?

Um, not quite.
Not quite.

All right,
let's try this again.

Aiming the megaphone

Toward a different part
of the mountain

Might hit the right note.

Adam: [ yodeling ]

Jamie: there we go!
Ohh!

[ Laughing ]

That is a result.

That was a hair trigger,
and it went.

It went with sound
from your voice.

♪ Odelay-hee-hoo ♪

This alpine tale
may just be true.

So, grab your polarized
designer shades,

Because the mythbusters are
headed into avalanche country.

[ Whip cracks ]

So, we can't do
the snow special

Without at least trying
the "I double-dog dare you

To stick your tongue
to that frozen flagpole" myth.

Oh, I know that one.

That's the one where you stick
your tongue to the pole,

And it gets frozen in place.

Who's gonna do that?

Narrator: if you've ever heard
of this human "predilicktion"

For frosty flagpoles,

Once your tongue makes contact
with a metal mast,

You're stuck.

First, they have to fill
this "mythbusters" spittube

With real saliva.

Ohh.
I got it on the outside.

Collecting enough
is going to be a team effort.

So kari lays down
some spittin' etiquette.

Okay, guys, I'm going to set
a few ground rules,

'Cause this is a disgusting
experiment as it is.

Please don't add your phlegm,
known as the "loogie."

[ Snorting ]

I'm serious.

[ Hawks ]

Narrator: meanwhile,
grant is boiling up an idea

To warm up their human-tongue
analogue -- a pig's.

Grant: my job is to reanimate
the tongue and make it warm,

Just like
our tongues would be --

Hopefully,
to body temperature.

Narrator: he connects
a thin plastic tube

To a small electric motor

And places it inside a bucket
that's filled with hot water.

Grant: oh, yeah.

Ow.

That's good.
That's really good.

Narrator:
now for some porcine surgery.

After cutting
the tongue in half,

Grant carefully cuts
a u-shaped incision around it,

Fits the tubing
into the groove,

Then sews it back up again.

Grant:
no one will ever know.

Narrator: it's a good thing
he never went into plastics.

Grant:
just like sewing on a button,

Except this
button's tongue-shaped

And made out of meat.

Narrator:
next, he takes a reading

Of his own tongue's
temperature...

Okay.


So that's my target.

Narrator:
...and turns on the pump.

Okay.

Hot water flowing.

Narrator: after 30 minutes,
frankentongue is awakened.

It's perfect.


That's close enough
for our purposes.

I think the tongue is ready
for some pole-licking action.

[ Yodeling ]

Narrator:
the quirky trill of yodeling

Has been known
to trigger headaches.

[ Yodeling continues ]

[ Avalanche rumbling ]

But how about avalanches?

In a small-scale test,

Jamie and adam found that
sound waves from the human voice

Could trigger flour to fall down
a chipboard slope.

Adam: [ laughs ]

But that was just kid stuff.

Now the guys are headed

Into the territory of
"what flies without wings,

Hits without hands,
and sees without eyes?"

The fearsome white dragon,
also known as the avalanche.

Adam: we've come to colorado
to the telluride ski resort,

Where we're gonna work
with their avalanche team

To start real avalanches
and see what actually happens.

[ Bird chirping ]

[ Laughs ]

Narrator: here in this
breathtaking yet harsh terrain,

Jamie feels right at home.

I've spent
weeks at a time out here,

In this kind of terrain
by myself,

Living off the land up here,

Trudging around in snow,
living in snow caves,

Digging food out of the ground.

I got to say, though,
it's good to be back.

It's quite, quite lovely.

Adam: we're very lucky
out here in the wild.

We've seen a hyneman
in his natural habitat.

Let's be quiet.
They scare very easily.

Narrator:
to conduct our tests,

The safety division
of the telluride ski patrol

Has determined
a specific mountain site

That's a real-life
avalanche risk.

Adam: how do you know
when conditions are
ripe for an avalanche?

Well, we go out,
and we dig snow pits.

And we actually
stick our head in the snow

And look at the structure
of the snowpack.

And then
we also calculate out

How much new stress
has been added to the snowpack.

Narrator: because craig knows
all the signs

Of a mountain on the brink,

We're sh**ting a safe distance
from public ski areas.

Now to put the yodel myth
to the test.

Adam's amateur vocal acrobatics
won't cut it, so...

To help us, we've brought in
a professional yodeler.

Liz, come on in.

♪ Yodelay-hee-tee ♪
howdy.

How are you?
Great.

Have you ever heard
of yodeling being dangerous,

Like, in
an avalanche situation?

Well, sure.
I used to ski in vail.

And backcountry skiing,
we were cautioned

Not to go yodeling
in the mountains.

Really?
Sure.

And what is it
about yodeling

That you think
will set off an avalanche?

It's a certain frequency.

And if you can hit it
just right

And the conditions are perfect,
you could start an avalanche.

Narrator: liz has been known
to shake things up before.

When I get a certain pitch
and a certain volume,

I can feel my crown in my tooth
sort of rattle.

[ Yodeling ]

It's quite a sensation.

If anything does start
to happen,

We're all going to bolt
in this direction.

Yeah, we've been advised
that the avalanche

Would come down this way.

So a couple hundred yards
this way should make us safe.

All right.

[ Yodeling ]

Narrator: yodeling is a rapid
undulation of vocal tones

That moves from low chest tones
to high falsetto.

But as liz's song reverberates
around the mountain,

Delightful as it is,
it remains unmoved.

Well, that was lovely.

And I don't see
any avalanche.

Well...not yet.

What do you think, jamie?
No avalanche.

Narrator: a bullhorn might
magnify her vocal exertions

Enough to cause a reaction.

We've got a police bullhorn
here, liz, to help you out.

Oh, wow.

[ British accent ]
I'm gonna set it on 11.

[ Normal voice ] hold on
to the trigger

When you're ready to go,
and give it all you got.

[ Chuckles ]

Adam: let's go.

[ Yodeling ]

[ Yodels echoing ]

[ Yodeling stops ]

Aah!

Narrator: but her startling
call of the wild

Stirs up nothing.

Something tells me
some animal might want to

Come out of the woods
and mate with us.

But I'm not sure that
we're starting an avalanche.

[ Howls ]
[ laughs ]

Narrator: hey, it was
a tough crowd to play to,

So it's not surprising.

[ Both yodeling ]

Yo!
Aah!

You're good.
[ Laughs ]

I think that one's busted.

Liz, thank you so much
for helping us out.

I gave it my best.
Absolutely.

Narrator: with the mountain
still officially deemed

To be in the avalanche zone,
adam rustles up another idea.

I brought out
my 11-foot bullwhip.

This thing
breaks the sound barrier.

If anything's loud enough
to start an avalanche,

It ought to be this.

When cracked,
the thin, flexible tips of whips

Move faster
than the speed of sound,

Creating a sonic boom.

Here we go.

That's the mountain
I'm trying to bring down.

Narrator:
sonic booms generate

Enormous amounts
of sound energy --

A lot like an expl*si*n.

[ Whip cracks ]

Adam:
you see anything?

No avalanche.

Adam whips it good.

[ Whip cracking ]

But the mountain
doesn't flinch.

I don't think I'm gonna start
an avalanche with this, dude.

Nope.

Let's move on
to the next thing.

Okay.
[ Sighs ]

But strap on
your rescue beacons.

This mountain
is ready to roll,

And we're going to have
a blast.

Is it true that the best way
to bond with a frozen pole

Is to lick it?

To find out,
kari's been in charge

Of collecting copious amounts
of real saliva.

But the job is literally
giving her the dry heaves.

[ Coughing ]

Before she loses her lunch,
let's move on.

Tory:
can we stop it here?

It's probably good there.

Narrator: in this giant
refrigeration truck,

Driver ron has delivered us
one metal pole,

Nicely chilled
to 32 degrees fahrenheit --

The freezing point of water.

Are you guys just dying to stick
your tongue to it right now?

Absolutely not.
It's freezing.

Narrator: time to set up grant's
pig-tongue-warming device.

Sloppy tongue.
Sloppy tongue.

My favorite.

Narrator: first,
they secure the organ to a stand

Next to the pole.

Don't squeeze too hard.
Grant: I know.

Man!
That does look appetizing!

All right, it's at 85.

Narrator: they slather
the tongue with the drool.

Grant: oh, nasty!

And it's time
to lick that pole.

Do it!

Tory: [ laughs ]
oh, it's sticking!

Stop, stop, stop, stop!
[ Laughs ]

Okay, okay. That's good.

So, at 32 degrees,

Your tongue will stick
to a frozen pole.

Dude, look, it's starting
to rip the flesh.

Oh, man!

Chunks of the tongue
are staying on the pole.

Narrator: ouch!

The instant
the tongue hit the pole,

It fixed to it like glue.

That was cool.
[ Laughs ]

It was like -- bah!

But the team
hasn't got this myth licked yet.

Masterson: [ yodeling ]

Narrator: released
into the wilds of colorado,

Jamie and adam tried to extract
an avalanche out of a mountain

With an alpine song...
[ Yodeling ]

...and a sound lashing.

[ Whip cracking ]

But to no avail.

[ Yodeling ]

So, where do we go from here?
What do we do now?

Machine g*ns.

[ Laughs ] come on.
Really?

Well, there are tons
of reported cases

Of avalanches
being set off by combat.

Now, to be honest,

We don't really know
whether it was due

To machine g*ns
or mortar fire.

But we can find out.

Yeah.
We need to check it out.

Excellent. I love this.

Let's get out there
with a machine g*n
and try this out.

Okay.

Narrator: this combat concept
isn't hit-or-miss.

During world w*r i,

Avalanches were used
as highly effective weapons.

In the italian alps,

Tens of thousands of soldiers
were k*lled by avalanches,

Often deliberately triggered
by a*tillery.

The question is,
could a machine g*n alone

Mobilize such a massive mass
of snow?

The theory is, the sound waves

Created from
the machine g*ns firing,

Combined with the physical
impact of the b*ll*ts,

Is a double whammy of force

That can break
the snowpack apart.

[ laughs ]

It's not every day
you get to witness

One of these devastating
natural occurrences firsthand.

We'll see you
under the mountain, buddy.

So say hello and bye-bye
to our buster stand-in.

His role
is to help the guys uncover

What would happen to a human
swept up in an avalanche.

So they haul him
high up on the hill,

Smack in the middle
of the predicted snow path.

This tiny speck of dust up there
is our buster stand-in.

He's, hopefully, gonna help us
figure out

What happens to a person
in an avalanche.

Narrator: officer dan covault
has brought mp5 submachine g*ns.

Operating at a high velocity
and rate of fire,

Triggering these
might just trigger an avalanche.

Adam:
that's pretty clear to me.

When you're comfortable,
drop your charging handle.

Both the guys are licensed
and trained to use firearms.

Putting it on full auto.

Adam takes aim...

[ Machine-g*n fire
echoing ]

...but the mountain
doesn't fall.

No avalanche.

Nope.
No avalanche.

So they double the firepower.

Jamie:
firing in 3...2...1.

[ Machine-g*n fire ]

[ Machine-g*n fire
echoing ]

But even though the sound

Was louder than the yodeling
and the whip,

And there were projectiles
striking the snow...

No avalanche.
No avalanche, man.

No avalanche.

Not even
a hint of an avalanche.

We fired off a whole bunch
of rounds at this hillside.

What exactly the state
of an avalanche is

At any given moment --

Whether it's on a hair trigger
itself and about ready to go

And whether one of these g*ns
would set it off --

It's hard to say.

Narrator: kari, tory,
and grant discovered

That there aren't many ideas
as dumb, or dumber,

Than licking
a frozen steel pole.

Chunks of the tongue
are staying on the pole.

Narrator: but to truly
substantiate this sticky myth,

Someone in the team
has to do it for real.

Dude, who's gonna be
crazy enough

To stick their tongue
on one of these frozen poles?

Obviously, it's rochambeau.
Grant: all right.

Ro-cham-beau.

[ Laughing ]

Have fun, buddy.

Narrator: rochambeau,
it's off to tahoe we go.

Tory: it's slippery.

Narrator: with pristine snow
covering the ground

And a brisk wind blowing,

The setting for this showdown
is ideal.

Tory's adversary, the flagpole,
looks like one cool contender.

Tory: oh!


[ Laughs ]

Narrator:
he mentally prepares himself

For his potentially
painful task.

I'm about to stick my tongue
to a frozen pole.

The thing I need to remember
is just to stay calm

And not pull away.

I actually heard,

One of the ways that
you can get your tongue off,

If you're stuck
and you're all alone,

And, say, you're out in the wild
where there's a flagpole,

Is that you can pee on it.

Cool.
Who's gonna do that?

No, you have to do it yourself.
Oh, great.

[ Laughs ]
go for it.

[ Inhales sharply ]

Narrator: the pole
grabs tory's tongue straightaway

And holds on tight.

Aah!

[ Laughs ]

Hey!
It's stuck!

Ugh.

[ Rip ]
ow.

Ew! Ew!
There's tongue on there!

We got stiction.

Stiction?

"Stiction."
That's a word.

I know.
It just sounds weird.

Narrator: grammar aside,

"Stiction" means
"myth" confirmed.

All right.
Confirmed.

Yeah.
Let's go snowboarding.

Since we're doing
all these snow myths,

There's one myth that we came
across that I'd like to try.

And the idea is that it's better
to drive in reverse on ice

Than to drive forward.

Backwards?
Yeah. Does that sound crazy?

Absolutely crazy.

Actually, it sounds like
a lot of fun to test, to me.

Let's do it.

Announcer:
the autos take to the ice.

anything for a laugh,
a thrill, or a spill.

Narrator: people have been going
backwards and forwards

About this wintry myth
on the "mythbusters" fan site.

smash and a crash.
that's all part of the game.

Narrator: the debate is,

When traveling
on slippery, icy roads,

You'll get better grip
driving in reverse.

How we gonna test this?

Well, I think the whole idea
behind this myth

Is that reverse
gives you more traction.

So maybe what we should do
is a scale test,

And we'll see which is better --
reverse or forward.

Yeah, we actually have

A front-wheel-drive car
here in the shop

That we can use
in our experiment.

Narrator: cool.

Tory puts the scale test
in gear

By welding together
two troughs made of steel.

The troughs will represent
the wheel tracks of an icy road.

Next, he fills the containers
with crushed ice.

M7 is becoming
a winter wonderland.

Snowball fight.
[ Laughs ]

Yeah!

You can't hide
behind the sound man.

Ugh!

Grant: [ laughs ]
ow.

They pack down the ice
into solid blocks.

Then, tory makes the surface
extra smooth and hazardous.

Now what I'm doing
is getting it wet.

And then I'm gonna put
the dry ice on top of that.

And that will freeze it,

Making just
a solid block of ice.

Narrator: a car can only move
if it can grip the ground.

And that grip
is called "traction."

If it has more traction,
it can pull with more force.

By chaining the car to a weight
and attaching a force gauge,

The team is going to measure
which direction --

Forwards or backwards --

The car has the most grip
on the ice.

Mechanically, all of
the factors are the same.

Same weight distribution.
The wheels are the same.

All you're doing
is isolating the gear.

So, the transmission.
Exactly.

Time to go for a spin.

The car they're using
is a front-wheel drive --

The most popular choice
in passenger vehicles.

You know, we're probably
gonna rip off the bumper.

Oh, well.
It's a company car.

Take it away.
All right.

[ Tires screeching ]

Okay, stop.
That's interesting.

What did we get?


Okay.
All right.

Let's reset
for driving in reverse.

Narrator: for the
driving-in-reverse test,

The front of the car
is chained to a forklift.

Grant: and if this works --

If there's a difference
in transmission --

We should see
more than 2,300 pounds

Before you start slipping.

Ready?
Tory: yeah.

Okay.

All right, let's see
what this car's made of.

[ Creak ]

[ Tires screeching ]

Okay, good.

What'd we get?

Oh!


Almost 900 pounds more.
Dude, that's a great result.

So driving in reverse actually
does give you more traction

Than driving forward.

In reverse,
the car was pulling

With nearly 40% more force
than going forward.

So the
"driving on ice backwards" myth

Is rolling along nicely.

[ Yodeling ]

Trying to set off an avalanche
with a yodel,

A whip crack,
and a machine g*n,

Adam and jamie
couldn't shift a snowflake.

What they need
is a surefire method.

Five-pound cast booster.

And has a very high
detonation velocity.

So the
telluride snow-safety team

Is going to give the mountain
a gentle nudge.

We've preplaced
a bunch of expl*sives

Up there this morning.

There's over 100 pounds
of expl*sives placed up there.



over 100 pounds.
Wow.

And they're all set
to go off at the same time.

Hopefully,
with a little luck,

We can force it out of there
with that.

So much for yodeling.

Yes.
So much for yodeling.

[ Laughter ]

Narrator: still waiting
patiently on the windy peak,

Our buster stand-in
is getting mighty chilly.

Time to warm him up.

Jamie: 3...2...1.

Adam: whoa!
Jamie: there it went.

[ expl*si*n ]

Wow!
Yeah.

[ Avalanche rumbling ]

Buster's moving.
We're getting movement.

But he's right ahead
of the slide.

Yeah, yeah, yeah!
I see him!

I can still see him.

Oh! He's just
gotten swallowed.

He's still moving?
He's still with it.

Sterbenz: it's gonna make it
over the cliff.

Oh, look at that.

Oh, poor buster.

Wherever he is,
he got trashed

Going through
that rock chute.

[ Chuckling ] oh, man.

Narrator: the guys finally got
some avalanche action.

Wow!
Yeah.

The monster tidal wave
of snow

Took out
one of our mountain cams

And our hapless dummy.

Adam:
we came for an avalanche,

And we got
a really nice avalanche.

We wanted to get buster
caught up in that thing,

And we did.

We watched him tumble
halfway down the mountain.

It was perfect.

Narrator: jamie makes the trek
all the way up the mountain

To retrieve his broken buddy.

Jamie: oh, man.

It looks like
he went down a*s-first.

I think he's got, like,
avalanche up his butt.

Studying buster and the terrain
up close,

He can see just how immense

The impact
of an avalanche would be.

These pieces are like --

You know, they're like rocks.
They're like boulders.

And they're all more or less
stuck together

Like a sea of concrete.

You don't really
get the feel for it

Until you're
right up here in it.

Adam: wow!
Jamie: yeah.

Narrator:
setting this slide in motion

Took some expl*sive power.

But the guys have an even more
dynamite idea to try.

Jamie: go, buster!
[ Laughs ]

Well, that saved me
a lot of work...

I think.

Narrator: an icy road can
quickly turn a pleasant drive

Into a bumper-car nightmare.

Conducting a scale test
in the workshop

For the
"driving on ice backwards" myth,

Team traction
got some unexpected results.

Okay, so it turns out
a front-wheel-drive car

Does have more traction on ice
when going in reverse.

I know.
That was cool.

What we need to do now, though,
is take it up to full scale.

But we're gonna need a ton
of ice and snow.

You know,
I heard of this place

Where the
california highway patrol

Teaches their officers
how to drive on ice.

[ Singsong voice ]
bet they'll let us use it.

Perfect.

All right,
let's pack our bags and go.

Narrator: sure enough, we were
kindly granted permission

To use the california highway
patrol's driver-training site.

The team lays out traffic cones
around the entire perimeter...

Ugh!

...and they're set

To put the "driving
on ice backwards" myth

To the real-life test.

Kari: track's all set up.
We have all our cones down.

This is
a very real-life situation.

We have snow, we have slush,
we have ice.

I think
we're ready to test it.

So let's go over
how we're gonna do it.

Well, we did find out
that we had more traction

Going in reverse
with the front-wheel-drive car.

So maybe what we should do
is test that one first.

We'll go about


And then going backwards,

And see which one
performs better overall.

We got a couple
other types of cars --

A rear-wheel-drive
and a four-wheel-drive.

So let's do
the same set of tests,

Forward and reverse,
see if that makes a difference.

I'll take front-wheel-drive.
I get the convertible.

All right, I'll take
the four-wheel-drive.

Great.
Cool.

Narrator: 15 miles per hour
is the set speed limit --

Slow enough to be safe

But fast enough
to give the wheels of the cars

Enough momentum
to move through the slush.

Tory: kari, how many times
have you driven on the snow?

This is actually the first time
I've ever driven on snow.

Here we go.

This is forward,


Front-wheel-drive.

Narrator:
kari hits the gas...

Whoa!

Tory:
you can start off slow.

Okay.
I'm at 15.

...but even driving
at such a low speed,

Quickly loses her grip.

Keeping 15 -- whoa!

[ Tires screech ]

Oh, I'm sliding
a little bit here!


On this slush.

It's not long before she
takes out her first victims.

Number two.

Aah! Aaah!

Narrator: and then she just
can't seem to get back on track.

Tory: you went off the track!
You went off the track!

Get back on the track!

Grant:
go between the cones, kari!

Oh, my god.

Get off the road!

Narrator: the turns are
where things really get tricky.

Coming around the last
few turns, still at 15.

i'd get out of the way
if I were you,

'cause I'm gonna do 15
to the end and stop.

Thankfully,
she comes to a safe stop.

[ Laughs ]

Tory: have you
been drinking, kari?

Whoo!

Now to see
if the front-wheel-drive

Has better traction
in reverse

Like it did
in the scale tests.

You ready?
Yeah.

No. Yeah.

Wear your seat belt.
Yeah.

Absolutely
wear your seat belt.

Grant bravely volunteers

To monitor the speedometer
for kari.

Tory: uh, you're already
coming off the track.

She hasn't even gone 2 feet.

She's already
coming off the track.

This is not looking good.

Kari: here we go.

Front-wheel-drive,
going in reverse.

Hopefully, staying at 15.

I'm taking cues from you.

So let me know if
I need to go faster or slower.

Narrator: and she's off.

Grant:


Grant counts up her speed,

And she's looking
surprisingly steady.

Holding 15.

Looking good, kari.

This myth
may have some traction.

Tory: she's actually
doing better in reverse.

That's amazing.

Aah!
Well, maybe not.

Narrator: but as soon as
she hits the tight curves...

Aah!

...things spin out of control.

Aah!

Tory:
okay, you know what?

Before you destroy
the entire course,

Why don't we just
take a breather?

Uh, I think we've got a cone
underneath us or something.

Grant, can you hear me?

Pull the key
out of the ignition.

Narrator:
oblivious to tory's pleas,

Kari's trip takes on
all the twists and turns

Of mr. Toad's wild ride.



Aah! Aah!

Get out of the way!
Out of the way!

Stop the car!
Stop the car!

Stop the car!
[ Laughs ]

Tory: why didn't you take
control of the situation?

She destroyed
the whole course!

Grant: oh! Oh!

You're crazy!

Narrator: so, even though
the scale test indicated

You might have more grip...

Aah!

...driving backwards
in the front-wheel-drive

Was way more dangerous
than going forwards.

I think that
the main factor here

Is that driving backwards
at 15 miles an hour

Is very difficult as is,

And the amount of traction
that you might possibly gain

From going in reverse

Will not compensate
for the fact

That it's just too wily
going backwards.

Narrator:
on the cone-count scoreboard,

Driving in reverse,

Kari wiped out
a wily total of 14.

There you go.
[ Laughing ]

Look! There's
a whole family of 'em!

Dang.

Testing
the fan-site-requested myth

"It's safer to drive
on ice backwards,"

In a front-wheel-drive,
kari lost all control.

Now to see
if tory can keep it together.

Grant: so, this will be

Rear-wheel-drive,
going forward.

He powers off.

[ Laughing ] yeah!
A little squirrelly.

Narrator: the sports car
is squirrelly, for sure,

But tory relaxes
and enjoys the slide.

Yeah.
It's like drifting.

He's done pretty good.
I don't see any down yet.

Tory completes the circuit
with no knockdowns.

Grant: all right!

Dude, this is rad.
It's just like drifting.

Oh, we're gonna have fun, kari.
Don't you worry about that.

Now to see how rad
reverse is.

For this run,
kari will be tory's copilot.

Okay.

A little faster.

But as soon as he
gets to the first turn,

The cone carnage begins.

[ Laughter ]

Grant: oh! One!

Ohh!
Aah!

[ Laughter ]

Keep going 15.

And -- whoa!

Yee-haw! Whoa!

Narrator: it's lucky one of
our courageous camera operators

sh**ting on the course
is light on his feet.

And tory squeals, squeals,
squeals all the way home.

[ Indistinct shouting ]

Whoo-hoo! Whoo-hoo!

Grant: wow!

[ Laughs ]

I would have to say,
it's pretty obvious,

Going in reverse,

Even though you might have
more traction,

You don't have any control
of the vehicle.

[ Laughter ]

Narrator:
on the leader board now,

Tory's reverse cone count is 12,
just 2 less than kari.

Now it's grant's turn
to take the wheel.

His vehicle is a mighty
four-wheel-drive.

This is four-wheel-drive,


Forward around track.

Here we go.

Into turn one.

A little sliding,
but not bad.

I'm feeling in total control!

Narrator:
grant's drive around the course

Is like a walk in the park.

Little sliding right there.

Last turn.

Whoa!
Little slide!

Still looking very good.
Very good.

Narrator: grant didn't hit
a single cone.

Grant: not bad.

Looked good. Flip it around.
All right.

Narrator: for his
driving-in-reverse attempt,

Tory will be
grant's speed monitor.

I have full confidence
in your driving capabilities.

Good.
That makes one of us.

Hit it.

You're at 10 miles an hour.

Grant
cruises up the straight

And rounds the first bend
riding high.

You're looking good,
you're looking good.

Kari:
he's doing well!

Wow!

Narrator: suddenly,
the "wow" turns into...

Ohh!

Kari: oh, oh, oh!

Oh!

[ Laughs ]

It's hard
driving in reverse!

Okay.

Whoa! [ Laughs ]

The course is back there!
I got it, I got it.

Narrator: it seems like
grant's teenage years

Spent playing pac-man
have finally paid off.

Are you trying to see how many
cones you can knock over?

You knocked over more
than any of us!

Sure enough, in reverse,
the final cone-count standings

Are kari, 14;
tory, 12; and grant, 20.

Tory: dude,
you're the winner, bro.

Nice work.
Shut up.

How many times
did he go off the course?

Was he on the course?

Narrator: so no matter
what kind of car you drive,

What have we learned in
"mythbusters" driver's ed today?

Kari:
going in reverse is nuts.

It is not going to give you
more traction or more control,

And I don't want to see people
driving on the roads backwards.

Rear-wheel drive,
front-wheel-drive,

And four-wheel-drive

Totally busted.

Narrator:
jamie and adam learned

That summoning up
a mighty avalanche

By happenstance isn't easy.

[ Singing indistinctly ]

Now that they're done
testing the myths,

It's time to hit the slopes
just for fun.

Adam: [ laughing ]

Ohh.

Adam: that's cool.

Narrator:
adam is going to take flight

With airborne snow-safety team
who leave nothing to chance.

Ha!

Adam:
avalanches are very deadly.

And these guys go out
with the expl*sives,

And they cause avalanches
on purpose

So that they don't happen
to people by accident.

Narrator: adam's task is to
assist operations director aaron

Inside the helicopter,
dropping live dynamite.

And then I'm gonna throw it
out the window -- okay? --

And I'm gonna do that
when the spotter,

Who is in the front seat,
tells me to do it.

Adam: that seems
pretty straightforward.

Considering you're throwing
dynamite out the window.

[ Laughs ]
it's pretty straightforward.

Now that we're
all clear on that,

We're ready for liftoff.

All right, adam.
All right.

Okay, chris.
We're ready back here.

Chris: okay.

One fox here,
lifted from the ski area,

Departing out to the south,
telluride.

Narrator: the view
from up here is awesome.

Oh, it turned out to be
a perfect morning, didn't it?

Only lacking one thing.

Chris: yeah.
An avalanche.

Narrator:
then let's get one happening.

Chris: looking at this
steeper stuff over this way.

Narrator:
first, the team determines

An avalanche-prone area...

Want to hit no name?

Chris:
yeah, we'll hit no name.

Little forward.
Little left.

Narrator:
...then go into action.

Chris: throw.
Out.

[ expl*si*n ]

There we go.

Light.
Lit.

Throw.
Out.

[ expl*si*n ]
awesome!

Light.
Lit.

A little faster, adam.
Sorry.

Throw.

[ expl*si*n ]

Narrator: adam's role
as expl*sives assistant

Is getting him all fired up.

Chris: throw.
Out.

Adam: we're in
this tiny little cabin.

My feet are underneath
this duffel bag

That weighs a couple of hundred
pounds worth of expl*sives.

And I'm grabbing them out,
I'm cutting the fuse,

Popping on the igniter,
handing them to aaron.

He's pulling them
and igniting them

[Chuckling] inside
the helicopter

And then chucking them
out the window.

Narrator: when the expl*sive
hits the snow

That's ready to go...

That was
a pretty big blast.

Chris: there we go.

There's a pocket.

Oh, that's an avalanche!

[ Laughs ]

Ah, wow.

Narrator: adam loves the smell
of dynamite in the morning.

Adam:
it's like water moving down,

And it really seemed to move
really slowly.

Although you keep having to
remind yourself

That the scale of this thing is
like 10, 20 football fields long

As it's moving
down the mountain.

Narrator: next,
a cornice catches their eye.

Chris: throw.
Aaron: out.

[ expl*si*n ]
oh, yeah!

Narrator: and sure enough,

Collapsing it
causes their second slide.

Wow.

And for the finale...
Lit.

Chris: throw.
Out.

[ expl*si*n ]

Oh h* h*!
Look at that!

Oh, perfect!

Narrator:
their third and final

Avalanche of the day
is a monster.

Awesome!

We were out for well over
an hour and a half.

We got three avalanches.

I'm superpleased
with what we got.

How are we gonna
call this one?

Well, you know,
all of our field tests

Said the same thing,
as far as I'm concerned --

That no yodeler in the world
is truly in danger

From an avalanche
merely by yodeling.

You know, I agree with you,
but I have to put in a caveat.

I mean, the variety of
snowfields that are out there

That would precipitate
an avalanche

Is infinite, almost.

And I can't help but think
that some of them

Are gonna be more sensitive
than the ones that we saw.

Right. I mean,
I appreciate your point.

But the fact is, if we're
gonna be scientific about it,

We can only call the conclusion
based on the data

That we've set out to gather,
and gather.

Yeah, we have to do that.

But I have to make
a point

That there are
cases, like skiers,

Which are not hundreds of pounds
of high expl*sives,

That have set off avalanches.
Yeah.

In some cases,
it doesn't take very much.

Your editorial comment
is so noted.

Well, driving on ice
sure was fun.

Yeah, and, kari,
you're really good at it.

[ Chuckles ]

Well, I thought
the avalanche myth was awesome.

And who knew jamie lived
in a snow cave for two weeks?

Yeah, those were both
really good stories.

And if you have any ideas at
home that you want us to test,

Log on to
discovery.com/mythbusters.

This time, preferably stories
that involve, I don't know,

Hot, sandy beaches

And drinks
with umbrellas in them.