iStockphoto / Liia Galimzianova
In Alaska, this time of year, there’s barely any darkness at nighttime at all. This morning, sunrise in Anchorage was at 4:33 AM and sunset is at 11:35 PM. The time in between if followed by lengthy periods of twilight where it barely gets dark.
This is a problem for Alaskans who want to enjoy fireworks like the lower 48. Shooting off fireworks is best at night.
Without any real semblance of nighttime, Alaskans have adapted to participating in the annual Glacier View ‘Car Huck’ where cars are launched off a mountain and explode down below. The Alaska car launch or ‘Car Huck’ is perhaps one of the greatest traditions in America and those of us in the lower 48 might never get to see it in person.
A full-length rundown of the action:
Here are highlights from the 2023 Alaska Car Launch, or the Glacier View Car Huck as it is called locally.
@cherryinalaska 4th of July Car Launch in Glacier View Alaska No, there is no one in the cars. This is all sone on private property and tens of thousands of people attend. The cars are donated by businesses and communities.
This one gets demolished at the bottom and makes it to the water.
Best tradition ever?
What is the Car Huck in Alaska?
The Alaskan Car Huck basically features all of the action of a demolition derby but instead of cars hitting each other they’re flying off a mountain and gravity does the rest.
This annual event is held in the tiny town of Glacier View, Alaska with a population of 375 residents (up from 234). Technically, Glacier View is part of the Anchorage Metropolitan Area despite being a 2-hour drive away in good weather conditions.
Each year on the 4th of July, people visit Glacier View for the Car Huck where cars are sent careening off a 300-foot cliff with spectators down below to watch the incredible crashes.
The Car Huck in Glacier View is held in place of fireworks since it doesn’t get dark enough in Alaska during the Summer to make fireworks worth it. So they improvised and came up with this glorious event.
How exactly do the cars fly off the cliff during the Car Huck?
My first thought was maybe they lock the steering wheels in place and someone places a brick on the gas pedal for the Car Huck but that seems wildly dangerous. I looked into it, and according to Fox 6 Now the cars are rigged up to “a rail system and rigged to accelerate on their own”.
It’s not uncommon for the vehicles to dislodge from the rail system and go tumbling around uncontrollably.
The event first began in 2005 when Arnie Hrncir created the Car Huck as a way to honor the military. He told the local news last year “This is just an appreciation for our military, the ones that have retired and the ones that are still active.” They also encourage locals to spraypaint the cars in patriotic colors before they’re demolished which seems like an odd way to honor the military and country, to be honest.
Apparently, anytime locals want to dispose of old vehicles they call him up and he saves it for the Car Huck. The only stipulation is the engine must work but they do prefer automatic transmissions.