Ship Lake Avalanche
From "The Snowy Torrents"

March 11, 1979. 2 snowshoers caught and buried.  Weather Conditions: The early winter snowpack in the Chugach Mountains consisted of 2 to 6 feet of wind compacted and well-bonded snow.  In late January, a 1/8-inch-thick ice layer formed and was covered by new snow in early February.  The next 5 weeks were relatively cold (-20 F to + 20 F) and clear, and the snowpack was dominated by temperature gradient metamorphism.  The result was significantly weakened new snow resting on the ice layer.  Snowfall resumed again on March 4, and about 1 to 2 feet had accumulated by March 10.  Winds at Ship Lake Pass, near the accident site, were from the southeast at 40 mph.  On the morning of March 11, weather was fair with light winds and a temperature of 25 F.

Accident Summary: Three Alaska State Troopers, Sam Barnard, George Pollitt, and Randy Johnston, all in their late thirties to early forties, planned a 2-day snow shoe trip to Chugach State Park.  Pollitt had recently taken a 3-day avalanche awareness course, and all three were familiar with avalanches.  While planning their trip, they checked with park rangers, who concurred that the route selected was generally free of avalanche danger as long as they traveled in the center of the chosen valleys.  The rangers also told them that extremely hazardous slab avalanche conditions existed throughout the park.

Setting out on Saturday, March 10, Pollitt wore snowshoes best suited for hardpack, high altitude snow conditions, while Johnston and Barnard wore the more classic snowshoes suited for low country, deep snow travel.  Their first day went smoothly as they crossed Ship Lake Pass and spent the night at Ship Lake.  The following morning, March 11, they broke camp and proceeded single file down Ship Creek with Johnston (who had the best snow shoes for flat, deep snow conditions) in the lead.  About halfway down the valley, they heard a loud boom somewhere high up in the mountains bordering Ship Creek but could not see any avalanche activity.  As they continued, they felt the snow settle beneath them several times and commented that the snowpack seemed very unstable.  As they went down valley, Johnston led the group toward the right side to gain altitude.  Pollitt had repeatedly requested that they continue more toward the valley floor and away from the base of the mountains, but the other two felt they did not wat to lose already gained altitude for crossing Indian Creek Pass.

Spacing themselves several hundred feet apart, the three men traversed the base of the mountain.  The time was about 10:00 hours when Barnard, second in line and in the middle of the slope, heard a loud "whump" sound.  Looking up, he saw a large crack form across the slope and the side of the mountain began to slide.  He and Pollitt, about 50 feet behind, turned and ran, but both fell and were hit by the wave of snow.

Pollitt was hit by the first wave of snow, knocked downslope, and pushed further by a second wave.  As the movement stopped, he was able to push a hand out of the snow and immediately cleared his face and mouth of snow.  Within 2 to 3 minutes, he dug himself out, stood up, and began searching for Barnard.  Noticing part of a pack protruding from the snow, he ran to that spot and saw a moving hand.  Barnard had also been buried by the second wave of the avalanche and had been able to push up one hand.  He described his experience: "The snow was heavy and compressing.  I was not able to breath.  I began digging from the top down and dug down to my nose and mouth and was able to take some breaths.  However, my chest was still tightly compressed, my body was immobilized, and it was very difficult breathing."