In March 1962, using a jeep-mounted 105mm
recoilless rifle, Guardsmen of the 2nd Battle Group, 184th Infantry,
fired at a 60 foot high, 200 foot long cornice of ice and snow
threatening traffic on a mile-long stretch of U.S. Highway 50
in the high Sierras. The highway was closed and from 1,500 yards,
six shots were fired at the base of the cornice, breaking thousands
of tons of ice, snow and rocks loose in a massive slide which
the California Department of Public Works, Division of Highways
(now California Department of Transportation or CalTrans) then
moved to reopen the highway.
Source: 1960-1962 Biennial
Report of the Adjutant General of the State of California
News Articles,
13 January 1963
Sacramento Bee
Images of
Operation Avalance
California Military Department Historical
Collection
