Help us bring in spring with an online auction fundraiser! This fundraiser directly supports easy access to the technology necessary to share snow, weather, and avalanche information which together, save lives. Follow this link to check out the available items! Bid on a variety of items including: Stage custom goggles Alaska Railroad tickets Barnacle food […]

So far this season there have been 8 avalanche fatalities nationwide and 2 of those occurred in Alaska. On February 2nd a heliski client triggered a loose snow avalanche (sluff) on his first turn down a slope. He was caught in the moving snow, which entrained additional snow as it moved downhill. The skier was […]

Avalanche danger in Alaska’s capital city of Juneau has been high as rain and warming temperatures are in the forecast through the weekend. Numerous slides have been reported including two that came down on Basin Road and Behrends Avenue Wednesday morning. As freezing levels climb rain on snow can add stress to deeper layers in […]

Alaska’s own IFMGA certified guide Joe Stock has recently released a book called The Avalanche Factor: Understanding and Avoiding Avalanches. The 304-page handbook for skiers, climbers and other recreational backcountry users distills decades of skiing, guiding and teaching into a step-by-step systems to reduce your risk while traveling in avalanche terrain. Topics include: Avalanche Terrain […]

In partnership with the National Avalanche Center (NAC) our regional avalanche centers have upgraded this season to the National Avalanche Center Platform (AFP). The system has numerous benefits such as cost-sharing, creating economies of scale, and consistent public messaging, along with other significant benefits that include added efficiencies to forecaster workflow and training and a […]

November marks avalanche awareness month in Alaska. It is time to get excited about winter, but it is important to remember that enough snow to ride, is enough snow to slide. Early seasons avalanches can happen and often catch riders off guard. It’s the perfect time to practice and prepare. Here are some things you […]

Last season, the AAIC worked together with the National Avalanche Center (NAC) to implement a new observation and weather station map platform to the website, we are currently looking to upgrade to the forecast platform for Valdez and Haines. The Support Raffle promoted website updates that saw more users using the new observation platform and […]

As the sun begins to return to our northern latitude in Alaska, the snowpack continues to undergo changes despite winter being over. Red flags include: increasing freezing levels, warming daytime temperatures, lack of an overnight freeze, strong solar radiation, rain-on-snow and more snowfall all contribute to springtime avalanche conditions. Unconsolidated surface snow that heats up […]

Now is the time to donate or submit observations to be entered in this year’s Support Raffle! Win prizes by submitting public snow, weather and avalanche observations, or contributing a $50 membership to the avalanche center of your choice (Valdez, Haines, Eastern Alaska Range, or Cordova), visit AlaskaSnow.org. Each public observation and/or membership puts you […]

Avalanche safety and education are a preventative service. Often times the need for funding these operations is overshadowed by the lack of response to avalanche accidents and incidents. The reality however is often that those services are working. This season multiple options are available to donate, become a member of a regional center, or provide […]

An upgraded observation platform from the National Avalanche Center is live for all AAIC regional avalanche centers at AlaskaSnow.org. The new system is easy to use and does a great job of visually displaying field observations, avalanches observed, and cracking/collapsing on the map view. Users are able to filter results based on date, avalanches, signs […]

In the field of avalanche safety and research, analyzing decision making often boil down to data collection. For human aspects to backcountry travel in the mountains surveys are an easy way for researchers to obtain information.   An important Alaskan research project called the Winter Backcountry Traveler Survey is requesting backcountry users to fill out […]