Avalanche closes road to, from Hatcher Pass

WASILLA — Alaska State Troopers say a skier has been missing in Hatcher Pass since Sunday afternoon, where a separate avalanche on Tuesday forced authorities to close the road to and from the popular winter recreation area beyond the Gold Mint parking lot.

According to trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters, authorities were notified at around 4:16 p.m. on Monday that Liam Walsh, 33, of Wasilla went skiing the day before and hadn't returned by that evening as planned. His vehicle was found in the mile 13.5 parking lot, but Walsh wasn’t, and conditions Tuesday hampered search efforts.

Avalanche conditions were reportedly very high in the area, and search efforts Tuesday were hampered by a 100-foot-wide slide across the road about a half-mile from the Archangel Valley trailhead. That avalanche forced authorities to close Willow-Fishhook Road into the pass at the Gold Mint Trailhead.

“This is the biggest slide I’ve seen go across the road since 2007,” said Wayne Biessel, area superintendent for Alaska State Parks.

Biessel said the road will likely be shut down for quite some time while authorities figure out what to do next. He said the avalanche has hampered efforts to locate the missing skier.

“It’s a show stopper,” he said.

Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson Jill Reese said the road will be closed at least through the night, and would likely remain closed for several days.

"We'll be closed until everything settles down," she said.

The avalanche that closed the road was an estimated 14 feet deep, she said.

The public is being asked to avoid the area until authorities can assess the situation. Biessel said there’s a winter caretaker who lives at Independence Mine as well as the owner of the Hatcher Pass Lodge — both of which are on the other side of the avalanche — but Biessel said both are reportedly in no distress.

On scene at about 11:45 a.m., park ranger Drew McElvain said he had been there since about 9 a.m. He said crews were waiting on professional avalanche forecasters driving in from Girdwood to evaluate the situation before they could begin clearing the road.

“We don't want a truck, or a grader, or a loader, or any of us to get caught in it,” he said.

The pass — which attracts snowboarders and skiers to its relatively accessible backcountry terrain — received heavy snow last week, followed by warming temperatures on Tuesday.

“(With) all the bad conditions that's been going on for the past couple weeks, just a heavy snow load is likely what caused it, but, I mean, it could’ve been something else,” he said.

McElvain and other authorities have warned of the high avalanche danger, and say skiers and riders are advised to stay away.

“Don't go on any steep slopes, don't go under any run out zones that are gonna avalanche above you,” he advised.

However, Gold Mint Trail is still technically open to snowshoers and backcountry skiers, and at least 10 snowboarders had no qualms about hiking to the top of a hill lower down for a quick ride.

Palmer resident and Valley Pathways graduate Victor Hess said he and his friends often use the Mile 16 trail and a neighboring route during the winter, and that Tuesday’s conditions were much wetter than they had been over the weekend.

“It was perfect the other day,” he said, waxing his snowboard by the road. “This is like the first time it’s been wet.”

Hess said he and his friends arrived around noon Tuesday and planned to stay for a couple hours, given that the area is the best place for backcountry boarding in the Valley.

“This is where I learned,” he said.

This story has been altered to correct the spelling of the word grader.