The Anchorage Avalanche Center will not provide winter backcountry safety, snow, and avalanche information for the Western Chugach Mountains of Chugach State Park this season. The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center (CNFAIC) leadership and board has worked against this project since 2013 when it went public without their approval and control. Given the uncertain future of this effort, this website will continue to be maintained as a testament to what is possible in terms of an organized avalanche information and education program for the Western Chugach with a minimalist and grassroots operating budget of ~$20,000/season (as described in this paper presented at the 2014 International Snow Science Workshop).
Since March 2013 (with project planning and development beginning two years prior in 2011 as a Masters thesis in Outdoor & Environmental Education), Mat Brunton (along with a handful of friends) provided seven seasons of observations and advisories on a “beyond volunteer” basis (meaning that not only did he do it for free, with no funding, but he paid for expenses out of his own pocket). For over half a decade, Mat lived his life around this project. He sacrificed other career and personal pursuits in order to keep this program alive, working jobs that provided him daytime hours during Alaska’s dark winters in order to conduct field work. This was done out of a deep love for the wondrous mountains that border Anchorage (Mat’s home for 14 years), and what they offer the community in regard to wellness by way of outdoor recreation.
As you review historical information provided by the Anchorage Avalanche Center (via the “advisories” and “observations” tabs above), keep in mind that Mat’s minimalist and grassroots model for the Anchorage Avalanche Center could function sustainably with an annual budget that is about one third of a Park Ranger’s annual salary.
Public observations are not enough (this is the only thing the CNFAIC has been willing to support), and can actually be misleading. Chugach State Park needs a professional avalanche forecasting program. There is no comparable avalanche terrain in such close proximity to a large population of recreationists that lacks an avalanche forecasting program anywhere else in the developed world. Anchorage deserves better.
Furthermore, the United States Forest Service paradigm for avalanche information (that works in the Lower 48) does not work in Alaska. Alaska needs regional avalanche forecasting, and a better paradigm for this is the Canadian model. Independent, grassroots avalanche centers are another option. However, the old-guard Alaskan avalanche “Establishment” (headed by the CNFAIC) is preventing this from happening due to their sense of entitlement and desire to control.
As “Friends of the Anchorage Avalanche Center” continue to work toward a sustainable solution for Western Chugach avalanche informationm, trip reports will continue to be produced and posted. We hope that these will inspire and inform adventures across our great state. A secondary purpose of these trip reports is to promote a more ecologically-benign sociocultural programming for citizens of Alaska, the United States, and Planet Earth.
Advisories: avalanche danger updates and weekend avalanche outlooks for the Western Chugach (with an emphasis on the most popular winter recreation areas in Chugach State Park)
Observations: recreational conditions in the greater Anchorage area (focused on snowpack conditions in the Western Chugach but inclusive of trail, climbing, and riding conditions throughout Southcentral Alaska)
Education: statewide learning opportunities and online resources for getting “avy savvy”
Trip Reports: inspiration and stoke to contribute to Southcentral Alaska mountain culture
Gear Reviews: our favorite equipment that makes big days in wild Alaskan mountains possible
Anchorage Backcountry Center mission:
- Enhance the safety, awareness, and enjoyment of visitors to Anchorage’s backyard mountain playground (the Western Chugach Mountains), and other Southcentral AK backcountry venues.
- Promote public lands, sustainable outdoor recreation, ecological consciousness, and environmentally responsible behavior.
- Contribute to Alaskan backcountry/mountain culture.
Anchorage Backcountry Center vision:
- Comprehensive outdoor information and education for the Western Chugach Mountains.
- A Southcentral Alaska citizenry that recognizes the immeasurable value of its public land resources, engages in sustainable outdoor recreation for individual and collective wellness, works toward improved sustainability in all domains of life through environmentally responsible behavior, and possesses an imminently necessary ecological consciousness.
- An inclusive, supportive, and diverse Alaskan backcountry/mountain culture.
Values & Philosophy
Diversity, equity, community, innovation, consciousness, excellence, and FUN.
The fate of the human species is dependent on changing the way we live on this planet. Our current rate of resource consumption and waste is unsustainable, and modern civilization has distanced humanity from its evolutionary heritage in the natural world. Outdoor recreation is an effective means of reconnecting individuals and communities to their natural heritage, developing a more caring relationship with the Earth, and inducing states of ecstasy!
Close call: three people were caught and carried by this avalanche just above the South Fork Eagle River trailhead (photo by Suzie Mauro, edited by AAC).
Know Before You Go!