Hatcher Pass

The avalanche danger is LOW at all aspects and elevations.

In isolated and extreme terrain, you could still find small, shallow wind slabs or dry-loose sluffs. 

The snowpack for March is thin, so triggering even a small avalanche could result in a rocky ride.

Continue to practice good travel protocol and only expose one rider on a slope at a time. Always carry a beacon, shovel, and probe, and bring a partner who knows how to use them.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Please take a few moments to fill out our State of the Snowpack survey from the '25/'26 season here. 

PFD season is here! Supporting HPAC with Pick Click Give is easy.

It's been a week since Hatcher Pass received about 4'' of new snow. Since then, mostly calm, cold, and clear conditions have helped settle and recrystalize recent snow. A few periods of increased winds created some shallow wind slab instabilities and a more windspread breakable windboard. While avalanches are unlikely today, you could still find a few pockets of instability out there:  

• You are most likely to trigger slides where the wind has built shallow slabs. These will be relatively hard to find today. Lingering wind slabs will likely be hiding in upper-elevation terrain directly below ridgelines or in tight gully features. 
• In extreme or very steep terrain, you could trigger loose snow sluffs that will entrain new snow as they move downhill. These could knock you off your feet, carrying you downhill. Even small slides can have serious consequences where slopes end in terrain traps such as cliffs, gullies, or depressions. 
• Strong spring sun could cause sun-induced loose snow slides where new snow clings to rocks. Be aware of what's above you, and avoid lingering below craggy terrain receiving direct sun—this will be more of a problem later this week with sunnier skies. 

Deeper instabilities on weak snow near the ground and mid-pack crust facet combos are still on our radar, but with a stout mid-pack slab bridging deeper layers, and no avalanches in over a month, the persistent slab problem is, for now, dormant. Despite the "LOW" hazard rating, don't rule out the possibility of finding trouble in the right spot—you can treat our shallow and variably weak snowpack as guilty until proven innocent. Think of it as a very low likelihood scenario, but still possible. If 99% of Hatcher has an unreactive persistent slab, ask yourself if you are in the 1% zone where the snow feels hollow, upside down, and shallow in steep and extreme terrain. 

Feel free to check out the mid-Feb to mid-March recap presentation. 

RECENT AVALANCHES: 

This past week, HPAC staff and the public observed a few natural sluffs  that likely occurred during short-duration 3/7 snowfall. Over the weekend, an Alaska Avalanche School motorized course triggered and reported a small D1 wind slab avalanche in Upper Willow at 3,800' on a SE aspect. Several other snowmachining parties were able to kick off small, shallow wind slab avalanches on 3/10 (see photo) near Grizzly Pass. Ski tourers on the Bomber observed some isolated sluffs and a shallow wind slab. See all recent observations here.