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The skier and snowboarder caught in an avalanche near Haines last week were experienced back country riders. They were among six who accessed Takhine Ridge by helicopter. The guide, who died at the scene, worked for Alaska Heli-skiing, and was trained and certified by the Alaska Helicopter Skiing Association.

Both men were recovered by other skiers and snowboarders using avalanche beacons.

In Juneau, backcountry users can practice their rescue skills at the Avalanche Beacon Training Park at Eaglecrest Ski Area.

Rosemarie Alexander visited the park with Eaglecrest’s Snow Safety Directors on a blustery day.

“When you’re out in the back country, your friend gets caught in a slide. That’s not the time to get the instruction book out – now how does this work?”

Eaglecrest Ski Patrolman Dale Gosnell has seen it happen before. Backcountry enthusiasts buy the right gear but don’t know how to use it.

“It’s important to have an avalanche transceiver, shovel, probe, skills and a partner with those skills,” Gosnell says.

In a year of near record snowfall in the mountains around Juneau, skiers and snowboarders are easily lured to the backcountry.

The Avalanche Beacon Training Park is the place to practice using the gear that’s required for safe travel.

The so-called Easy Searcher is mounted on a pole beside Raven Runout at Cropley Flats. It’s powered by lithium batteries, recharged by a solar panel above. Six radio-controlled units, each about the size of a small briefcase, are buried beneath the snow in an area about the size of a soccer field. Those pads simulate buried victims wearing an avalanche transceiver.

The machine has three search modes, each with increasing difficulty. Davies sets it on “easy,” and it indicates that one avalanche victim is buried somewhere in the area.

“Get your probe ready,” Davies says, as he snaps it in place.

He turns on his transceiver. Goznell makes sure his transceiver is off.

“Otherwise you’re looking for each other,” Davies says.

Avalanche transceivers send out electromagnetic flux lines in every direction. Searchers follow those signals to the beacon that’s transmitting from the buried victim.

Davies and Goznell start hiking through the heavy snow.

“Unlike a real avalanche where you have a last seen point, we don’t have one, so we need to set up our gross search pattern as we walk across, trying to find our initial signal, Davies says.

Cropley Flats soon begins to feel like a big place. Davies and Gosnell hike in one direction than another. Still no beeps.

“I’m just kind of probing over in a circle,” Davies says, about 10 centimeters between each probe strike.”

The pace quickens and it appears Davies has a signal. He stops and probes deep into the snow. His avalanche transceiver is telling him he’s getting closer to the victim. Gosnell joins him and they reach the victim. The Easy Searcher is beeping and a yellow light is flashing. When the last victim is found, it beeps three times.

If this had been a real avalanche, the chances of survival decrease dramatically after 15 minutes. It took Davies just over 11 minutes. In a real-life situation, the next step is digging out the victim.

“Statistically, the average burial depth in U.S. is eight-tenths of a meter, or right about three feet. They say the average time to move a cubic meter or cubic yard of snow, three feet by three feet by three feet, is about 10 minutes. If you are doing a multiple search none of the beacons turn off until you have found them all. So it makes you think, because you can’t turn off somebody’s beacon until they’ve been excavated out of the snow,” Davies says.

The Avalanche Beacon Training Park was funded by the Alaska Search and Rescue Association, or ASARA. It’s a collaboration of Eaglecrest, the National Ski Patrol, Juneau Mountain Rescue, SEADOGS and ASARA.

The portable rugged unit is used in training by mountain rescue groups throughout Southeast.

Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood also has a portable unit.

Eaglecrest Snow Safety Director Davies says there’s no substitute for practice if you’re traveling in the backcountry. He has coined a phrase for Southeast’s snowpack: Maritime Complacency.

“Our snowpack kind of leads us into getting away with a lot of stuff. But when it does go, it tends to go pretty big,” he says. “And we don’t want anybody hurt. We want people out there to enjoy. So come practice.”

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The Alaska Legislature approved a citation honoring the late Guy “Buddy” Tabor, who died last month in his Juneau home at 63 years old.

The citation notes that Tabor was born and raised in Roanoke, Va., and made his way to Alaska in 1967. He worked for the U.S. Postal Service and the Alaska Railroad and on the trans-Alaska pipeline.

He spent a year in Mountain Village on the Yukon River in western Alaska, and eventually settled in Juneau.

All along the way, he played music, with enough original work to fill nine albums.

The citation says Tabor’s lyrics were gritty and full of real-world experiences and that his folksy, balladeer-style often featured just him and his guitar.

The Juneau Homeless Coalition saw nearly 190 people utilize services at this year’s Project Homeless Connect – the most in the event’s three year history.

The annual program, which started in San Francisco, is designed to take a snapshot count of a city’s homeless population, and connect individuals to services.

Homeless Coalition Co-Chair Jorden Nigro says more people are taking part in the Capital City as word gets out about the event.

“We actually think there were probably a few more folks there who didn’t get through the registration process, but did get services,” says Nigro. “We had over 50 haircuts, 89 people registered for their Permanent Fund Dividends, gave away 18 pairs of reading glasses, the Front Street Clinic had 135 visits. One thing that I was so struck by was, it really does feel like the community helping each other out.”

Homeless Connect participants are asked to fill out surveys to help the coalition better understand the needs of Juneau’s under-housed population. Survey data was released yesterday (Wednesday).

Besides looking at the most popular services, the surveys track demographic information. For instance, respondents this year included 120 men and 66 women. Most of the participants were between the ages of 25 and 50, with the second-most between the ages of 50 and 70. A handful were older than 70 or younger than 25.

The Homeless Coalition estimates Juneau’s actual homeless population at 550 – nearly triple the Homeless Connect count.

Nigro says the group is just starting to get a handle on the causes of homelessness in Juneau, though one factor seems to be a shortage of affordable housing.

“A lot of the folks that came to Project Homeless Connect, many of them have jobs, many of them are couch surfing and things like that,” she says. “So, there isn’t a simple answer to homelessness in Juneau, there are multiple reasons that people end up homeless. But I think the more work we do like this, the more we can figure out who’s out there and what they need.”

Nigro says the coalition is involved in several efforts to find solutions to Juneau’s homelessness problem. That includes discussion of a Housing First shelter, where people would be allowed to drink alcohol on the premises. Housing First shelters in Anchorage and Fairbanks have been criticized for not addressing the root cause of homelessness.

Later this month, the Homeless Coalition will take part in another survey being led by Juneau’s Glory Hole shelter. The purpose will be to learn more about the most vulnerable individuals. Unlike Project Homeless Connect, the vulnerability survey will attempt to contact homeless people on the street, instead of making people come to an event.

Link:
2012 Juneau Project Homeless Connect Report [PDF]

With oil and gas issues dominating Alaska politics, it can be easy to forget that as many as 20,000 people work in the state’s commercial fishing industry every year. That’s 6,000 to 7,000 more jobs than on the North Slope.

So as many fishermen near retirement age, the next generation is looking to step into leadership roles.

For the last four years, the Alaska Young Fishermen’s Summit has brought together some of the brightest young minds in the industry. Casey Kelly has more on the gathering, which took place in Juneau for the first time this year.

Fairbanks Republican Representative Steve Thompson asks if anyone else in the public would like to speak to the House Fisheries Committee.

A young man steps forward, fidgeting nervously in a blue sport coat: “Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name’s Timothy Nick and I come from Dillingham.”

Nick is here to ask the committee to pass a resolution pledging support for programs designed to boost the fishing industry.

The 21-year-old got his first crew share at 15, working for his family’s Bristol Bay setnet operation. But he never intended to make a career out of fishing.

“It was hard for me to watch my dad go through hardships and not have that much profit come out of fishing,” he testifies.

But when he was 18, Nick’s father gave him the family permit and bought another one. Today, the father and son operations are turning a small profit.

Nick says House Concurrent Resolution 18, which pledges continued support for education and loan programs for fishermen, shows that the state is committed to growing the industry.

“It would be great to have that pass, so that young fishermen like myself who almost didn’t go into fishing, [will] be able to keep the permits inside the state and amongst the local citizens who rely on fishing as a main source of income,” he says.

Sunny Rice is the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program Agent in Petersburg.

“We’re always really thrilled when we see one of our past participants writing a letter to the editor, or testifying before the Board of Fisheries,” Rice says.

Since 2009, the University of Alaska Fairbanks program has organized the annual Young Fishermen’s Summit to groom the next generation for leadership roles. Rice says that’s becoming more important as older fishermen get ready to retire – the so-called “Graying of the Fleet.”

“Not only do you have to know all that there is about gear and fishing and running your boat safely; but you need to have a head for business, you need to have some business training to help you balance your books,” says Rice. “You need to understand the markets for your product; and you need to know about the science and the management of your fisheries; and you need to get involved in the regulatory process.”

The two-day summit features panel discussions and seminars, not only with scientists and policy makers, but also bankers, insurance agents and economists with expertise in the fishing industry.

Timothy Nick says he got tips at the conference that should help his family’s fishing operation. While they only fish during the summer, Nick says the money has to last throughout the year.

“Being able to make that money stretch through the winter is one of the problems I deal with,” he says. “Also, understanding the insurance stuff, the tax information, I’ve always wondered about that through the years. But this is opening me up to those learning opportunities.”

In its first three years, the Young Fishermen’s Summit was held in Anchorage. Having it in Juneau this year gave participants the added benefit of interacting with lawmakers.

Lexi Fish – a 27-year-old troller and long liner from Sitka with the perfect name for a fisherman – says she’s always been interested in fisheries policy, and thinks the summit will give her more confidence to express herself.

“Probably my biggest priority is making the resource sustainable over the long-term,” Fish says. “It has to provide for people to keep their livelihoods commercial fishing.”

Rice says one of the goals of the conference is to help young fishermen find their voice.

“What they have to say is important,” she says. “Their individual stories make a difference and those decision makers want to hear those stories.”

After hearing from participants in the Young Fishermen’s Summit, the House Fisheries Committee unanimously passed House Concurrent Resolution 18. The non-binding measure appears to be headed for a vote on the House floor.

About 50 young fishermen take part in the summit each year. Several seafood companies help sponsor the event.

The Juneau Homeless Coalition has joined the national 100,000 Homes campaign to help connect Juneau’s homeless to permanent homes.

Coalition Director Scott Ciambor says membership in the national campaign has been made possible by an Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority grant to the Glory Hole to hire an outreach advocate. That person will organize and conduct a survey of Juneau’s homeless in April.

Chambior updated the CBJ Assembly Human Resources Committee on the project Monday night. He says the survey is similar to Project Homeless Connect conducted last month, where homeless people are linked to services they need.

“There could be resources that we already have that we simply need to plug them into, but nobody’s going out and asking them, and that’s kind of this new model,” Ciambor says. “You know we do have a continuum of care, we do have services available, but the prerequisite is that the homeless folks know about them and utilize them.”

One-hundred fourteen U.S. cities have joined the national campaign, which has a goal of finding permanent homes for 100,000 of the country’s most vulnerable homeless individuals and families by July 2013.

Douglas singer-songwriter Buddy Tabor passed away Sunday evening at about 7:45 pm. He was 63 years old.

Tabor had been battling cancer recently.

An edition of the Mudlark Sampler show on KRNN last Saturday was devoted to Tabor and his music.

Tabor was also the featured guest during an interview on KRNN in December.

Services are pending.