iStockphoto / Ali Çobanoğlu
For the vast majority of Americans, a grand fireworks display is the cherry on top of the 4th of July. It is the final hoorah every year on Independence Day from the time we’re little kids until we’re old.
But for Alaskans, celebrating the 4th of July with outrageous fireworks displays simply isn’t possible due to 24 hours of sunlight. Well, close to 24 hours. There is a sunrise at 4:33 AM and sunset at 11:35 PM with twilight in between. And without darkness to see the fireworks it would be a huge waste of money. Instead, Alaskans have improvised with the annual ‘Alaska Car Huck‘ or ‘Alaska Car Launch‘ depending on who you are talking to.
I’ve shared videos of the annual Alaska Car Launch for the past several years and I’m pretty sure the 2024 Alaska Car Huck outdid them all. This year they fired a bus off the side of the mountain during the annual Glacier View Car Huck and that bus just straight-up disintegrated when it hit the bottom of the Glacier View mountain. This video is ‘just the cars’ aka none of the stuff in between and only the good stuff:
A local news station in Alaska went out and spoke to locals about this annual tradition. EVERYONE loves it.
Pulling from my article last year, I thought I’d throw some information at you all on what exactly the annual Alaska Car Launch really is.
What is the Car Huck or Car Launch in Alaska?
The Alaskan Car Launch 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.
To anyone that follows my annual coverage of the Alaska Car Launch and already knew all of that information word-for-word, apologies for copy/pasting many of my words from last year but I think it’s helpful in building the next generation of Car Launch fans.