A Southcentral Alaska winter that's been largely light on snow is taking its toll on those hoping to venture into the backcountry of Turnagain Pass, part of the Chugach National Forest south of Anchorage.
More than two weeks after the area typically opens for snowmachiners, the pass remained closed Tuesday as lower elevations continued to see below-average snow levels. It continues a trend of recent years that has seen the pass open later and later for snowmachiners.
As Wendy Wagner, director of the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center, put it, "backcountry recreationalists have powder fever." And the only cure, she said, is probably more powder. Unfortunately for them, the lack of snow this year has painted a "pretty gloomy" scene in an area that's normally a popular winter playground. And it's not just snowmachiners; backcountry skiers and snowboarders also face risky conditions at upper elevations, where avalanche danger has been high for the last few days.
"There is no snow at the road level," Wagner said. "Snow doesn't start until 1,500 feet (elevation), which is 500 feet above the road."
Less-than-ideal conditions at Turnagain have become more common in recent years, causing the pass to open to snowmachiners later and later in the season.
The pass opened to snowmachiners on Dec. 20 last winter. In the winter of 2012 it opened Dec. 15, and opening day was Nov. 25 in 2011. This year the date that snowmachiners will be able to saddle up on their sleds is still "TBD," to be determined, Wagner said.
Turnagain Pass has actually received a normal amount of precipitation for this time of year, but in a typical winter it would have come in the form of snow -- not rain, Wagner said with a chuckle.
At mid-level elevations, she said, snow on the mountain suddenly gets deep. And backcountry skiers and snowboarders have been taking advantage of it, as long as they are willing to travel "by their own power" -- hiking to elevations where avalanche dangers have recently become much greater.
An advisory posted Tuesday on the Avalanche Information Center's website classifies the avalanche risk at high elevations -- above 2,500 feet -- as "very dangerous."
"Being that it is almost Christmas and it is raining, there is frustration between backcountry recreationalists. But there is some good news: It is snowing at the upper elevations," Wagner said. "But there is bad news. This last storm that has come in has put several feet of snow on a very weak surface."
She said the wet, heavy snowfall blanketing the higher elevations followed a particularly dry, cold spell, which made it hard for the fresh snow to stick to the layer beneath it. And it could cause some in the backcountry to get into "some real trouble during the next clear spell." which the National Weather Service predicts will begin Thursday, according to Wagner.
The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center will continue to track the vulnerable layer of snow and try to better determine the avalanche danger.