19th Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War

The north fort complex was completed first.

The forms used to build walls are now several years old but still very serviceable.

It took only about 15 minutes to complete a full 3 part wall using the "dry pack" method.

After wall building and lunch, chairs and launchers were added behind the protective snow.

The southern fort featured a more compact design, wind breaks, and a extra wall to serve as ablative armor for the center area of the fort.

The northern fort had a more spread out design and a anti-moat to reduce the effectiveness of the dreaded skip shot.

At just after 6:30 PM the northern fort shouted that they were almost ready. The southern fort only made out the word "ready" and started firing.

The northern fort quickly became ready and the battle was joined.

Trajectories were lower this year. Volumes of fire were higher. In past bottle rocket wars, eye protection was used, but thought of as a bit of safety overkill. Not this year.

The intensity did not let up for over 90 minutes. From the OOO's and AAA's of spectators and talking with some of them later, it was quite spectacular from a safe distance. The view from the middle of the maelstrom was amazing. While loading and lighting a dozen rockets at a time, sparks from near misses would pass overhead and better aimed incoming produced flying chunks of ablative snow armor that exploded from the walls. Best bottle rocket war ever.

The bar night after the fight featured pool, bar rail bowling (with the Knottlane Cup on the line!), layered shots, flaming shots, and other drinks. There was also chilli.

The northern forts deuce was cold and quiet during the great stick pick-up of 2010.

The vertical deuce of the northern fort was also silent and not as lit-on-fire as the night before.

The front of the northern fort bore may scars and red-stick-wiskers.

The red sticks impaled in the walls were easier to gather.

The extra wall protected part of the southern fort.

Several rockets found their way around the extra wall.

The area between the forts held an enormous number of sticks.