Adventurer headlines Avalanche Center Fundraiser

HATCHER PASS — The Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center is bringing world-renowned adventurer Mike Libecki to Anchorage to raise funds for the HPAC. Tickets are on sale at beartooththeatre.net for the Oct. 10 presentation by Libecki and his team.

Libecki grew up in California and developed an instant love of climbing the first time he tried it. Libecki has developed what he called obsessive expedition climbing disorder and has a goal of reaching over 100 expeditions. Libecki quickly grew to climb the most challenging rock faces in the world in El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. Libecki’s expeditions have taken him to nearly 100 countries to complete some of the most remote, physically demanding first ascents to continue to challenge himself with what on earth remains to be unseen by man. Libecki is constantly researching for his next expeditions, scouring through thousands of maps to plan his next adventure, hoping to encourage people to care more about the planet and share stories from around the globe. Libecki will present a slide show of his expeditions at the Bear Tooth Teatrepub in Anchorage on October 10 as a fundraiser for HPAC,

“I really believe Mike is one of the greatest explorers of our time,” said Kate Arnold with the HPAC.

Arnold moved to Alaska eight years ago after spending a decade working ski patrol in Vail, Colorado. Arnold noted not only the difference in the snowpack she was skiing on, but the community of backcountry trail users she was surrounded by. In Colorado, free avalanche trainings were offered at any of the numerous and extravagant ski resorts sprinkled throughout the state. With a much more wide-spread backcountry community thriving in Alaska, Arnold was searching for a way to put her avalanche savvy education to good use. Serving as one of the volunteers for HPAC writing grants, Arnold said that the decision to become a nonprofit will benefit backcountry skiers and snowboarders in the long run with more forecast information.

“We decided to become our own 501©3 to better serve the Hatcher Pass community with their community funds. As a smaller group, we’re able to tackle more grants and just to kind of focus more of the money towards potentially Hatcher Pass which is great,” said Arnold.

The HPAC currently offers one forecast per week at www.alaskasnow.org., detailing the condition of newly fallen snow with impact observations from avalanche trained professionals. Arnold hopes that the money raised at the October 10 meeting with Mike Libecki and the February 8 Cabin Fever Reliever will allow HPAC to offer two forecasts per week, as well as extending their education by offering avalanche trainings and visiting schools.

“It goes just beyond skiers and snowboarders, It really goes to a very very large community of people,” said Arnold. “ With Skeetawk coming in, we really believe that we’re going to need to focus a lot more of our efforts on keeping people safe out there.”

Arnold and HPAC are hoping to draw a large crowd at the Bear Tooth for the chance to meet a world-class adventurer such as Libecki. Arnold is inspired by his tenacity to continue challenging new corners of the world that have not yet been explored. While Libecki continues his global travels, Arnold wants to safely share the snow in Hatcher Pass.

“It’s the greatest sport ever. I couldn’t imagine my life without snowboarding. I think that becoming a skier and snowboarder really just help me develop more strength and just more confidence in life in general. It is really such a beautiful experience to ski down fresh powder in steep terrain and it’s very freeing and I really hope that we can bring that to many children in the community via Skeetawk and really just offering more safety courses so people can really experience the joy of skiing backcountry,” said Arnold.

While trail counters that HPAC purchased on a grant from the Mat-Su Trails and Parks Foundation do not account for the weekend crowds of extreme sledders that frequent the road runs in Hatcher Pass, Arnold said that their trail counters have tallied thousands of downhill skiers, skijorers, cross country skiers, snowboarders and snowmachiners that frequent Hatcher Pass as the snow blankets the mountain peaks. The HPAC produces snow forecasts that help educated backcountry enthusiasts be aware of dangerous areas and changes in the snow pack.

“There are many people that are in Hatcher Pass that have no idea about the snowpack or the safety conditions. Really, it accumulated when I came upon a young kid on top of one of the ski runs that was alone and he didn’t have a beacon and he had not spoken to anyone about where he was and he was very nervous so it just sparked something in me that was like, basically I realize there are many people out here that have no idea what they’re doing and it’s very dangerous,” said Arnold.

Arnold hopes that the fame and intrigue of one of the world’s greatest modern day explorers can help drum up support to keep people safe on the snow this winter.

“Any support that people can show us now is really going to pay off for us all winter and into the future,” said Arnold.