California Avalanche Guns Head for Iraq

By Morten Lund

Until recently, the war in Iraq has had little bearing on the ski industry, but a recent Associated Press story reported that the US military is now asking Alpine Meadows and Mammoth Mountain to return the howitzers loaned by the Army through an arrangement with the Forest Service for use in avalanche control. The two California resorts have five howitzers between them, three at Mammoth and two at Alpine Meadows, valued at around $1 million each, and central to their avalanche control systems. Administrator Mary Walker reported that Mammoth had spent a good deal-even given the Army's help-to build new firing platforms.

The reason behind the Army's about-face is the longer-than-expected war in Iraq. The Army is now saying the guns are needed by troops fighting the insurgents even though the Army loaned recent model howitzers just last year as replacement for much older Army howitzers that had worked successfully until the World War II surplus ammunition became so dated as to be dangerous.

This impasse in avalanche control does, however, have a history of "deja vu all over again" as Yogi Berra once put it-a new version of an older problem that raised its head as a result of the "Monty Atwater revolution" in avalanche control at Alta.

When Monty arrived at Alta in 1946, he took the place of Forest Service Snow Ranger Sverre Engen, a fine jumper and a peerless deep snow skier. The only way Engen had to assure reasonable avalanche safety was to close the threatened slopes to skiing until the snow settled. Alta sits in the narrow Little Cottonwood Canyon. Snow build-up on the slopes above had too often led not only to a complete closing of the ski area but to avalanches that ran right up to the lodges at the bottom.. One avalanche poured into a bathroom window and half-buried a woman guest taking a shower.. In sum, avalanche at Alta was at the very least bad public relations.

Monty Atwater, newly discharged Captain in the 10th Mountain, hated the passivity in the face of avalanche. He was began packing explosives up the slopes and to set off avalanche with a big bang before the snow build-up became dangerous. Then he was then able to get hold of a World War I French 75 howitzer through the Utah State Guard that could lob explosive shells, saving a lot of climbing. Monty "shot" avalanches with the old howitzer for ten years.

But he was frustrated in his quest for a much finer weapon, the World War II surplus recoilless rifle. Not until Monty was put in charge of snow safety for the 1960 Olympics at Squaw Valley did he manage to get hold of a recoilless rifle, in fact, he got six of them, four 75 mm and two 105 mm recoilless rifles kept Squaw crowds safe for the Olympics. And the era of the recoilless rifle and World War II howitzers for avalanche control had been launched. But the problem was not solved. World War II surplus recoilless rifle ammo was beginning to due out in a few years.

So Monty had a substitute method invented. He persuaded the patent-holder of the gas-pressure-powered baseball pitching machine to invent a gas-powered gun. Monty's Avalauncher could hurl its newly designed explosive projectile a mile up the slopes.. When Monty was overtaken by ill health he took on an enterprising partner, Jerry Nunn, the country's first woman Forest Service Snow Ranger. Jerry supplied the final push behind the success of the Avalauncher. (This is one of the reasons she was elected to the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame in the class of 2004). The Avalauncher could control avalanche-up to a point-without gobbling up the limited supply of precious war surplus ammo. Its limitation was its much shorter range compared to an Army howitzer, whose two to three mile range could cover more slopes more quickly and leave the clean-up work to the Avalauncher.

But now the alternative solution to the fast-deteriorating World War II ammo-the new loaned Army howitzers-is about to disappear. Mammoth has an Avalauncher but it still needs the howitzer-or some other long range weapon- to do efficient avalanche control. Unless someone invests the money to make bigger, better Avalaunchers (and why not try to make them?) it is obvious that temporary fixes will be needed for next season's avalanche control at Mammoth and Alpine Meadows. And maybe other resorts as well. The long-term hope is for an improved Avalauncher. Or for the Bush administration to find a way to pacify Iraq. That would certainly solve the problem.