Avalanche professionals are warning backcountry adventurers to stay out of risky terrain after snow slammed the Upper Lynn Canal in late December.
National Weather Service data shows the storm dumped at least 44 inches of snow in Haines, making it the sixth snowiest five-day period in more than two decades. Other reports documented closer to six or seven feet.
“It was definitely one of the higher snowfalls you've gotten in five days, pretty much out of all your time that the station's been there,” said Juneau-based meteorologist Edward Liske.
The dumping has created a risky situation in the backcountry that warrants extreme caution, said Jeff Moskowitz, the director of the Haines Avalanche Center.
His main message: “Avoid being in or around avalanche terrain.”
Earlier this week, Moskowitz dug a snow pit in town – in front of Haines’ historic Fort Seward – that confirmed his assessment. Standing chest-deep in the pit, he pointed out layers of snow stacked on top of each other, each representing a different storm.
There was a somewhat fluffy layer on top, from the snowfall in early January. Below that, there was a roughly three-foot-deep layer that was more compact, from the late December storm.
And then there was a thin, feeble layer of snow just inches from the ground that crumbled like sugar when Moskowitz ran his hand through it. That snow was on the ground before the big storm – it’s the layer that could collapse and trigger an avalanche under the weight of more precipitation, snowmachines or humans.
“We have about a meter of really strong snow just sitting over this sugar,” Moskowitz said, calling it a “dangerous combination for avalanches.”
Starting Dec. 27, the situation prompted the center to issue warnings about high avalanche risk in the Haines area. Moskowitz said people should stay off slopes that are greater than 30 degrees – and avoid traveling beneath them.
“It's just a tricky situation, because there's lots of snow, and we want to go play,” he said. “But we still have this strong-over-weak layering in most places.”
In some places, he said, the weak layer may be buried so deep that a human or snowmachine wouldn’t trigger it. But in shallower areas, like near trees or rocks. the layer would be closer to the surface and more likely to trigger an avalanche.
“People could ride that slope numerous times until one person finds that weak spot,” he said.
The deluge has stopped for now. But the situation could get worse before it gets better, as temperatures rise and the top layer of snow consolidates into a heavier, thicker slab. New precipitation or other conditions could trigger a natural avalanche cycle, wiping that weak layer out.
“Otherwise, it's a little bit like a ticking time bomb,” Moskowitz said.
Haines Avalanche Center
The Haines Avalanche Center is a nonprofit and the main source of avalanche information in the Chilkat Valley, which draws backcountry adventurers from around the world. Moskowitz emphasized the importance of donations, grants and borough funding to make that work possible.
In the past, the Haines Borough has asked nonprofits to apply for funding from a $100,000 bucket. But Haines Mayor Tom Morphet said that, amid a steep budget deficit, the assembly discontinued that grant process for fiscal year 2026, which runs through June.
That has meant less funding than usual for the Avalanche Center, which has just three part-time employees, including Moskowitz.
“Less funding means less staff time,” Moskowitz said. “And staff time means that locals who are avalanche professionals and have certifications are out there, digging in the snow, making assessments, posting that information publicly.”
The center posts a general avalanche information product every week, plus a weather forecast and season summary. They also issue advisories when avalanche danger is high, including three days in a row in late December.
But the center does not currently have the funding or staff capacity to consistently publish advisories when avalanche risk is low, moderate or considerable.
“What we don't want, is that there's an accident that sparks the public interest in supporting the Avalanche Center,” Moskowitz said. “We just need to maintain the services we provide and just keep it going year after year after year.”
Morphet, the mayor, said the borough and assembly are “acutely aware” of the center’s importance.
Moskowitz said people who recreate in the backcountry can help by paying close attention to their surroundings – and he urged them to send in their observations online.
That could mean details about a human-triggered or natural avalanche, about where the sun has hit the mountains on a particular day, or an observation that feathery crystals – known as surface hoar – have started forming on the snow’s surface.
“There's very little information that we're not going to find useful,” Moskowitz said. “All of that is very valuable, and it helps to inform this bigger picture.”
