The Last Gunners

For 75 years, the silent hours of deep, snowy mornings at Alta Ski Area were ruptured by the reverberation of heavy artillery echoing off the surrounding granite crags. Since 1949, weapons of war have been an invaluable tool in combating the ever-looming threat of destructive avalanches in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Drop into the story of Alta’s pioneering artillery program from infancy to its conclusion in 2023. These massive artillery pieces, recruited for a peaceful purpose, now face retirement as Alta presses ahead to the forefront of the latest technological advancements in avalanche mitigation.
Concept/Producer: Lexi Dowdall
Director/Editor: Tim Jones
Special thanks: Alta Ski Area, Alta Ski Patrol, UDOT, University of Utah/Ski Archives, Utah State Historical Society, US Army, US Forest Service and Snowpine Lodge.

[@shopvice]

As a certified avalanche gunner and builder of Alyeska's howitzer mount this was a great watch. Thanks!

[@paaltveit7371]

Thank you for all your hard work Grom!!

[@DaveReedDR]

Shoutout to incredible producer Lexi Dowdall for this gem!

[@charliesmith6793]

I ❤ ALTA SKI PATROL.

[@user-dt7br9xf5t]

Awesome work here. I've know about the guns for many years but never stepped back to think about how military artillery is being used to save lives, not take them. Cheers to the big guns.

[@SkiBum6062]

Add Atwater to the list of Pioneers in Utah….great video!

[@dgilm]

Awesome! Very cool to see what allows us to ski and the historical footage!

[@user-li2ti3yo4w]

Great Video

[@celiafuentes371]

Me encanta UtAH apenas estuve de vacaciones el 31 de diciembre 🎉amo Utah

[@louididdy]

Very well produced video.

[@threepeat333]

RIP LCC Heavy Artillery Unit

[@calebbeauchesne3424]

King of battle. Rah

[@hughslaton]

Pretty cool and not something I'd ever heard of!

[@tristanjones00]

So lame this program is getting cut

[@avybomb6698]

Not cut, replaced.

[@tristanjones00]

@@avybomb6698 cut

[@TheJTinHB]

"latest technological advancements in avalanche mitigation" were not very effective last weekend...

[@antoniocastillo9984]

En.espanol.xfavor