Avalanche

The Alaska Avalanche were at home Wednesday night, looking to win two straight games over West Division leaders the Wenatchee Wild. Brandon  Brossoit beat Wenatchee’s goalie in a race to the puck, scoring to put Alaska ahead 1-0 after the first period. The Avalanche sank a second puck in the second period, hanging on to win 2-1. Contact Kevin Wells at kwells@ktuu.com

An avalanche Tuesday blocked the Copper River Highway near Cordova, closing the road for more than six hours before city officials say it reopened at 6:30 p.m. Officials say the slide at about Mile 5 of the highway, which a city spokesperson attributed to warm temperatures and rainfall, happened shortly before noon. Driver Donald Kurz says he was on his way to the airport with his wife and 2-year-old daughter when they encountered the avalanche. “As we're approaching the corner, I see this massive wall of snow floating like a river down the highway into the Eyak Lake, which is right across the highway,” Kurz said.

Three climbers were rescued by helicopter from Mount McKinley Thursday, two of whom were unable to walk after sustaining leg injuries in an avalanche Sunday. Denali National Park officials say an A-Star B3 helicopter contracted by the park picked up Michael Pillegaard, 26, Mads Knudsen, 30, and Nicolai Bo Silver, 26, from the mountain's 17,200-foot high camp. The trio had left the camp Sunday to try and summit the mountain by an alternate route along the Autobahn, a slope leading from the high camp to Denali Pass.

by Channel 2 News staff Thursday, April 15, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The Alaska Department of Transportation says an unknown amount of avalanche debris has covered the Klondike Highway south of the Capt. William Moore Bridge. The road is expected to be closed until at least midnight. The avalanche occurred Thursday around 2:30 p.m.

Alaska State Troopers say both men who were caught in a Tuesday avalanche near Haines have died. Nick Dodov of Truckee, Calif., 26, was listed in critical condition early Wednesday, but died Wednesday afternoon. His next of kin have been notified. Troopers in Haines were informed at 11:11 a.m. of the avalanche, which occurred near Mile 33 of the Haines Highway. Six people were heli-skiing on Takhine Ridge when the avalanche hit, burying 35-year-old Robert Liberman of Telluride, Colo.

The Juneau City Assembly will meet Monday night to discuss ways to reduce the avalanche threat in the city. Back in 1972, Juneau was declared the highest avalanche-risk urban area anywhere in the world by a body called the Swiss Snow Authority, which makes such assessments. The city got the designation because its 30,000 residents sit at the base of 2,500-foot mountains that slope as much as 34 degrees. Avalanche pathways on those mountains lead directly to 62 homes, a hospital, a hotel and a main road.

While outdoor enthusiast are anxious to get on the back country slopes avalanche experts are warning them to be prepared as conditions are dangerous. Wendy Wagner with the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center advises people to check conditions at their website before heading out.  A popular outdoor enthusiast area is Turnagain Pass. Despite minimal snow coverage skiers and snowboarders are hitting the back country slopes there already. The saying goes- if it's deep enough to ride it's deep enough to slide.

A Sunday ski trip turned deadly after an avalanche hit a group of experienced back-country skiers in an out-of-bounds area at Washington's popular Steven's Pass. Elyse Saugstad, a professional skier and Girdwood, Alaska native, was one of the skiers swept up in the snow slide. Out of her smaller group of four, she was the only survivor and told NBC's Today Show on Monday, that all of them felt safe in the area. But then, the avalanche hit. "At the very beginning, there wasn't much panic.

An effort to recover the bodies of four Japanese climbers who died in an avalanche on Mt. McKinley, in Alaska's Denali National Park, has been permanently called off. “We just decided it was not worth the risk,” said Maureen McLaughlin, a park spokesperson. An avalanche swept a five person climbing team off a slope, Wednesday. Only one member of the group, 69 year old Hitoshi Ogi, survived. He is recovering from minor injuries, which include frostbite on his hand. The others, 64-year-old Yoshiaki Kato, 50-year-old Masako Suda, 56-year-old Michiko Suzuki, and 63-year-old Tamao Suzuki, are buried under very dense snow and ice, the National Park Service said.

Cordova residents woke up Wednesday to rain that had turned a lot of the city's heavy snowfall snow into slush, causing several inches of water to accumulate on the roads. Temperatures reached into the upper 30s, prompting fears of an avalanche on the Copper River Highway. The state Department of Transportation shut down the highway Tuesday night, but by mid-morning Wednesday traffic was allowed back through with an escort. "The avalanche shoot has filled up with snow," said Cordova Public Information Officer Tim Joyce.

STORY UPDATED AT 9:37 p.m. 3/25/13: No serious injuries were reported in Glenn Highway crash, according to the Anchorage Police Department. APD Officer Sean Keating on the scene said a total of 13 cars were involved in the crash. "It sounds like one of the vehicles in the middle lane lost control. Just probably going too fast for the conditions," said Keating. "Hit one and just stated the whole domino affect, everybody started slamming on their brakes hitting each other.

The Steese Highway has been closed near Eagle Summit Friday for the second time in two weeks due to blowing and drifting snow. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities' road-conditions website announced the closure, between closed avalanche gates at Mile 101 and Mile 116, at about 4:30 p.m. Friday. AST spokesperson Megan Peters says no vehicle accidents have been reported in the area of the closure Friday. The Steese's avalanche gates were also closed on Jan. 31 after poor conditions.

The Seward Highway was temporarily closed by two separate slides Monday morning between Anchorage and Girdwood, including one which saw a vehicle hit a rock that had landed on the highway. State officials say traffic is now moving on the highway. According to Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson Rick Feller, a rockslide at Mile 106 near False Creek north of Indian at about 5:30 a.m. blocked the highway's northbound lane and partially obstructed the southbound lane. Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Megan Peters says shortly after the slide, a male driver hit a rock that it had left on the road.

A backcountry avalanche warning was issued by the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center beginning midnight Sunday. The warning came after information from the National Weather Service suggested that weekend storms would bring unseasonable warmth and rain.  Although winter warmth and rain contribute to any avalanche season's risk level, weather patterns this season combined with a lack of heavy snowfall early this winter have...

Much of Southcentral Alaska has been placed under a weekend flood watch Friday, as forecasters predict a tropical weather front with warm winds moving into the area and changing snow into rain -- a combination expected to drastically increase avalanche danger. A flurry of National Weather Service bulletins issued Friday call for a flood watch in the region, including Anchorage, the Mat-Su Valley, the western Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound. The watch is expected to remain in effect until Monday morning.

Avalanche experts with the Chugach National Forest warn people traveling in the Turnagain Arm area Wednesday that avalanche danger is high. The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center urges extra caution around the Kenai and western Chugach mountains. The center says Wednesday's clear weather does not mean a reduction in the avalanche hazard, with dangerous human-triggered avalanches likely in less-traveled areas. People without expert-level avalanche skills are urged to stay out of the backcountry.

The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center is predicting a high risk of avalanches in areas south of Anchorage. They say deep snow along Turnagain Arm, and the Chugach and Kenai mountains is resting on early-season weak snow pack. Alaska Department of Transportation crews used large cannons to mitigate the avalanche risk along the Seward Highway Wednesday. Officials say the small slides they create can prevent the formation of a large, uncontrollable avalanche. “What we're delaying with is, we got a bunch of cold, dry-faceted snow with a lot of warm dense slabby snow on top," said Matt Murphy, an avalanche specialist with DOT. "So we're trying to stay ahead of the game and do some preventative maintenance in our avalanche paths before the next storms come in.” The Chugach information center predicts that avalanche danger will increase with warm weather as several feet of new snow settles into dense slabs.

Alaska averages about 4 avalanche deaths per year, but the Turnagin Pass area hasn't had one in several years, and officials want to keep it that way. "There's a scale from 1 to 5, and right now we're right in the middle of that scale, and that's called a considerable danger,” said Avalanche Forecaster Wendy Wagner. The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center issues daily advisories on avalanche conditions. Wagner says the lack of snowfall this year actually makes us more susceptible to slides, because the older snow hasn't been on the ground long enough to form a solid foundation.

The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center has raised the avalanche advisory for the Chugach area to "considerable" above the tree line.  This is due to the recent trends in weather. Wendy Wagner, an avalanche forecaster with the Information Center, described the effect the last few weeks of weather have had on the risk of avalanches.  She said the weeks of low temperatures with little to no snow set the groundwork for an avalanche risk.  The extreme cold has affected the small amount of snow on the ground, causing it to become granular and very slippery.  Wagner likened it to a layer of ball bearings, onto which a big layer of fresh snow was recently dumped.  That instability of the landscape, coupled with the outdoor enthusiasts enjoying the fresh snow, can quickly lead to disaster, she said.

While outdoor enthusiast are anxious to get on the back country slopes avalanche experts are warning them to be prepared as conditions are dangerous. Wendy Wagner with the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center advises people to check conditions at their website before heading out.  A popular outdoor enthusiast area is Turnagain Pass. Despite minimal snow coverage skiers and snowboarders are hitting the back country slopes there already. The saying goes- if it's deep enough to ride it's deep enough to slide.