Western Chugach, Chugach State Park, Front Range

Pro bono Anchorage Avalanche Center professional staff completed a big loop in the Front Range to assess conditions for the upcoming weekend avalanche forecast. The avalanche specialist’s tour from the Glen Alps trailhead included a descent down a couloir on the north side of The Ramp and a summit descent of Mt. Williwaw via the SW face and couloir.

A few very small (D1) wind slabs were skier triggered while descending both The Ramp (NW aspect, ~4500′) and Williwaw (SW aspect, ~5000′). These were expected and with that said, expert-level terrain management was employed throughout the day to avoid triggering any larger avalanches.

A couple collapses (one minor in the South Fork Campbell Creek valley, one major near Black Lake – see photo below) were experienced at the mid-elevations on terrain with a relatively thin snowpack.

The only recent natural avalanche activity observed was a small wind slab on a northerly aspect of The Ramp (see photo below) in the Williwaw-Ramp cirque. With great views for surveying avalanche activity from the summit of Mt. Williwaw (highest point in the Front Range) and a long tour covering a lot of ground, no other recent activity was observed in the South and Middle Fork Campbell Creek Valleys and upper Ship Creek valley.

Considering this tour passed through the wondrous Williwaw Lakes designated Wilderness, we want folks to know about the “backcountry concert” that was approved to take place there last summer on the Solstice. The event was sponsored and planned by the Anchorage Black Diamond retail store.

Anchorage Avalanche Center staff, Jess Tran and Mat Brunton, spearheaded the resistance that shutdown this ill-advised and poorly planned concert. You can read articles about the concert in the Anchorage Daily News here, and the Anchorage Press here.

The Black Diamond Anchorage store manager that was in charge of the event had no plan for risk management, emergency response, medical response, wildlife encounters (the Williwaw Lakes area is relatively densely populated with black and brown bears, moose, and Dall sheep), handicap access (which is discriminatory considering there are non-Wilderness venues in Chugach State Park that are handicap accessible, and much more appropriate, for such an event), waste management (besides “pack it in, pack it out”), resource damage (trail, vegetation, tundra, water), parking (considering non-concert-goers would also need access to Glen Alps trailhead), and mitigating the impact of the concert on Chugach State Park users going to the Williwaw Lakes designated Wilderness Solstice weekend for its intended purpose: “to promote, perpetuate and, where necessary, restore the wilderness character of the land and its specific values of solitude, physical and mental challenge, scientific study, inspiration, and primitive recreational opportunities.”

The event was approved by Chugach State Park’s new superintendent, with no input from the official Chugach State Park Citizens Advisory Board. How such an event was approved, that planned to have 1,000 people (and potentially their pets) gathered in designated Wilderness, is dumbfounding.

Longtime followers of the Anchorage Avalanche Center project may be aware of Black Diamond’s (Utah headquarters, not the Anchorage store) previous contributions (gear donations) to this program. Considering that relationship, Anchorage Avalanche Center staff were very tactful in their initial attempts to address concerns with the concert venue. Despite initially contacting the Black Diamond Anchorage retail store manager directly in order to discuss concerns and more appropriate venues for such an event, the store manager was determined to have the event at Williwaw Lakes. This lead Anchorage Avalanche Center staff to employ other means to shut down the concert. Specifically, alerting the public and encouraging them to contact the Chugach State Park superintendent. Fortunately, this worked and the superintendent revoked the permit.

The Black Diamond store manager threatened to eliminate Anchorage Avalanche Center staff’s pro deal if they spoke out about the event, as if discounted BD gear was worth more than protecting the community’s backyard Wilderness sanctuary.

Considering Black Diamond’s irresponsible corporate behavior in regard to this concert, we are encouraging folks to boycott the Anchorage Black Diamond retail store and instead support longstanding local businesses like Ski AK, AMH, and The Hoarding Marmot.  These locally owned and operated businesses know better than to exploit our public land in such a crass way.