Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center to host fundraiser

HATCHER PASS — The Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center is hosting a Cabin Fever Reliever on February 8 from 5:30-9 p.m. at the Palmer Moose Lodge. The fundraiser will feature local band Hot Dish and silent auction items of local services and backcountry goods. The HPAC is a nonprofit 501c3 that produces a weekly avalanche forecast for Hatcher Pass. Unique among the other avalanche forecast centers in Alaska, HPAC is one of only a small handful of avalanche centers in the country that does not receive state or Federal funding.

“There’s a professional forest service funded avalanche forecast for 95 percent of the places people ski in the country and then you go up to Hatcher Pass and there are people skiing everywhere and potentially putting themselves into dangerous situations,” said HPAC Executive Director Andy Dennis. “We’re basically funded fully from independent grants and donations so there’s only six other non agency (avalanche) centers in the entire country and we’re part of that kind of group.”

This will be the fifth year the HPAC hosts a Cabin Fever Reliever fundraising event. The monies raised help to pay for two professional avalanche forecasters, Jed Workman and Allie Barker, to put in 25 hours a week predicting dangerous conditions.

After Matanuska winds blew at nearly 40 mph with gusts up to 52 mph, persistent slabs of 2-12 inches sit on weak layers, making it possible to trigger human-caused avalanches on all aspects, but mostly likely on Southeast to North aspects at mid-to-upper elevations on slopes of 35 degrees and steeper. “Hard slabs are difficult to predict and may allow you to step out onto them before failing above you, making escape difficult,” reads the Feb. 1 forecast.

The most recent HPAC forecast warns that avalanches may be triggered at low elevations in isolated areas or extreme terrain. As recently as January 30, whumpfing and shooting cracks were heard and human triggered avalanches were observed. HPAC hosted a free avalanche workshop in January and continues to be the only nonprofit avalanche center in Alaska. Providing a weekly forecast has been a long road and with grants from the Palmer City Council and others, HPAC has been able to drive traffic of backcountry enthusiasts to their website for more accurate snow information. Dennis says about 5,000 people will view any given forecast, but particularly jarring pictures or videos can bring as many as 15,000 hits in a few days. Dennis and the HPAC hope to be able to fund a mid-week avalanche forecast in the future.

“There’s a bunch of use, cross country, backcountry and then with the snowmachines getting more and more powerful, people are able to get into some steeper AV terrain and they need some professionals out there looking at the snow and at least providing info so people can make informed decisions on what they’re doing,” said Dennis. “For me, personally, it was unacceptable to live in a community where there was no professional avalanche forecast.”

The HPAC operates as a nonprofit with six members on the all-volunteer board of directors. The Cabin Fever Reliever is among the necessary fundraising efforts to continue paying for accurate and up-to-date avalanche forecasts in Hatcher Pass to keep backcountry skiers and snowboarders safe. While the Federal government pays for the Chugach National Forest forecast and the city of Valdez funds the Alaska Avalanche Information Center in Valdez, the HPAC has had to fight for funding to produce their weekly forecast.

Dennis says that a statute in state law dictates that the state funds local avalanche forecasting in recreational areas that has not been enforced and hopes to discuss the funding process with legislators after the winter season.