6 Inches - Hatcher Pass, April 2014

6 inches, maybe 8 - that's how much it has snowed at Hatcher Pass in the last month. I think that the last significant storm was the incredible dump in early March. With great conditions throughout the Chugach and the Kenai we haven't been to the Talkeetnas much lately.

But, its been getting warm, so we did a quick after-work investigation last week. Nicole, engineer by day, snowpack investigator by night:


Who could resist that? Saturday we headed towards the spines, flutes, and cliffs of Government Peak. The (shirtless) boys bronzing on the approach:


1.2 meters. The total snow depth at 4,000 feet on a due north aspect. 1.2 meters never skied so well.

Cold Smoke - Three Days in the Talkeetnas

On March 5th a jet of moisture pushed north into Southcentral Alaska. Snowfall would be the heaviest at the end of the jet, but, the devil would be in the details. As I sat at my desk avoiding work and checking the SNOTEL, it looked like many zones had ended up high and dry.

Except for Hatcher. Hatcher was reporting 15 inches of new snow, but only 0.6 inches of SWE. Had the Talkeetnas really received almost a foot and a half of cold smoke? Or was it wrong? As the day went on reports started trickling in...

At midnight on Friday morning I picked Lindsay up at the airport; it wasn't hard to convince her to drive north for dawn patrol. As we skinned into Eldorado, the sun greeted us with soft pink light.


Looks like a good place to start.


Foraker, Hunter, and Denali waking in the morning light: