Avalanche debris will keep Hatcher Pass Road closed through the week, officials say
The Department of Transportation plans to do mitigation work in the area before clearing the debris toward the end of the week.
The Department of Transportation plans to do mitigation work in the area before clearing the debris toward the end of the week.
Alaska health officials have received 177 reports of people testing positive for the virus after getting vaccinated. That’s less than 1% of Alaskans whose vaccinations are complete.
It’s the most extreme avalanche closure in the area in about 40 years, said an Alaska Department of Transportation official.
After years of steady growth, Knik Glacier has exploded as a destination this winter, especially for fat-tire cyclists.
Investigators are looking into the delay and whether any of the five people found dead initially survived the Saturday crash above Knik Glacier. There was one survivor.
The passengers included three guests and two heli-skiing guides from Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, said a lodge representative. The survivor, who remained in serious condition Monday, was identified in Czech media as a well-known Czech snowboarder.
The road was expected to be cleared and reopened by late Friday afternoon.
The borough this week had the state’s highest new case levels and the lowest vaccination levels.
“It happened really fast. I was glad I was at the right place at the right time,” said Doug Ramsey, an Iditarod volunteer from Wyoming.
Both Gov. Dunleavy and a state representative later tested positive after attending the Alaska Outdoor Council banquet last month.
The attorney representing Ron and Lacey Bass, owners of Mat-Su cannabis cultivation and retail businesses, says the case stems from disgruntled former employees.
Shaking was felt widely throughout the region, and the state transportation department didn’t have any initial reports of damage.
Still, the borough’s lack of restrictions has drawn two state athletic events from Anchorage, where sports fall under stricter protocols.
Jeff Polk, manager of Hatcher Pass Lodge, said he’s overjoyed to have the lodge open again — and that former owner Karl “Hap” Wurlitzer would have wanted it this way.
The lodge owner said a resident in the area had snowmachined over and found the cabin “had been burned to the ground with no signs of recent activity or the caretaker,” according to troopers.
Athletes say the masks take getting used to, but they’d rather wear them than not play, said one school official.
“Why do you guys have to treat her like this?” a woman offscreen asks the officers. “You’re taking her away like a goddamn animal.”
The school district was reporting 157 COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks.
Scott Gagne was operating a snowcat on Hewitt Lake near Skwentna on Friday afternoon when the machine broke through the ice, troopers said.
An infected person at a basketball tournament in Juneau also led to multiple quarantined students at two different schools.