We Probably Saved Some Lives Tonight

That’s not clickbait. That’s an actual quote from the Avalanche Safety event TrailMates just hosted and honestly? It felt true.

This wasn’t your typical "sit quietly and nod" kind of presentation. It was one of those events where you leave feeling more confident, a little more humbled, and way more aware of what’s actually happening under your feet when you’re out hiking in the winter.

Every single person in the room learned something. And that includes experienced hikers and hike leaders who all stood foot in one of the most dangerous avalanche areas in Anchorage, which we will touch on below. Alaska is beautiful, awareness of her beauty and what potential risks are in the winter is why we collaborated on this presentation.

TrailMates Call to Action for our Hiking Community

One of the biggest themes of the night came from Pete:

“Frontload the community with safety.”

Translation? Don’t wait until you’re already on the trail wondering if something feels sketchy. Safety starts before you even leave your house when you’re checking the forecast, looking at terrain, and deciding whether today is actually a good day for that hike.

This isn’t about fear. It’s about being informed enough to make smart calls.

The Line That Made the Room Go Quiet

Joe Stock, who was our guest presenter and a world-renowned avalanche safety educator, dropped this one line and you could feel everyone pause:

“The hardest part of avalanche rescue is digging them out.”

Avalanche rescue is brutal. It’s time‑sensitive. And it’s not something you ever want to learn the hard way. The biggest takeaway? Avoidance is the goal. The best rescue is the one you never have to perform.

Avalanches Aren’t Random (Even If They Feel Like It)

Joe broke down avalanche behavior in a way that actually made sense to those in the room, especially for many of us hiking familiar trails and thinking, “I’ve done this a hundred times.”

A Few Key Types We Talked About

• Upslope Avalanches These build and build until they shed and are often on the leeward side of ridges. It might look sheltered, but that’s exactly where snow is loading.
  

• Windslab Avalanches (the big one for Alaska) These are especially dangerous on the leeward side of ridges.

🔥 One of the most dangerous local examples? Blueberry Hill on Flattop.

Here’s the part that really hit home: The windward side is where we all tend to hang out because it feels safer and less windy but the leeward side is where snow piles up and wants to slide. Comfort ≠ safety.

Let’s Talk About Slope Angle (Because This Matters)

If you remember one number from this blog, make it this: 30 degrees.

Any slope 30° or steeper has avalanche potential. Period. And yes, that includes a lot of the hikes we do all the time.

How Do You Know If You’re on a 30° Slope?

• Use slope‑angle tools in avalanche apps (see below)

• Study topo maps before your hike

• Learn to recognize terrain features that naturally hit that angle
  

Once you start paying attention, you’ll never see trails the same way again. This wasn’t just a beginner wake‑up call. TrailMates hike leaders shared the same big reminders:

• Always check the avalanche forecast even for familiar trails

• Any slope over 30° should raise a red flag
  

Familiarity can be dangerous. The mountains don’t care how many times you’ve been there.

Conditions Right Now Matter

We’re currently sitting at record highs in Chugiak, which means the snowpack is changing fast. Warmer temps can increase instability and raise avalanche risk even on days that look calm and beautiful. Bluebird days don’t mean safe days. Here is a look at the current risks you are facing within our local and surrounding areas.

Tools You Should Absolutely Be Using

If you hike in the winter, these aren’t optional, they’re part of the territory when it comes to safety.

Avalanche Forecast & Community

• Chugiak Avalanche Forecast Center – your go‑to for local conditions
  

• Friends of the Chugiak Avalanche Center (Facebook) – updates, education, and community info

Apps

📱 AVY App (Free)

📱 Steve’s Badass App ($4.99) Worth it if you want deeper data, planning tools, and extra insight

Shoutouts Where They’re Due

Huge thanks to:

Pete Devaris — One of our very own TrailMates hike leaders. He is the very reason this night happened at all. Pete organized, coordinated, and brought the community together with one clear goal: getting critical safety information in front of hikers before it’s needed. This is what frontloading safety actually looks like.

Joe Stock— a world-renowned avalanche safety educator, professional guide, and one of those people you immediately trust because he’s spent decades actually doing the thing. Joe works at the intersection of science, real-world experience, and education, helping backcountry users understand not just what the risks are, but why they exist. In addition to avalanche education, he leads guided mountaineering trips around the world from Europe to Nepal and brings a global perspective back to our very local terrain. His ability to translate high-consequence decision-making into clear, usable takeaways is rare, and it showed all night. Website: https://www.stockalpine.com/

Gabe & Anchorage Brewing Company — for hosting us and giving the community a space to learn, connect, and ask real questions. Go give him a visit: https://anchoragebrewing.company/

This Night Mattered.

It was practical, real, and directly tied to the trails we hike every week. If one person checks the forecast when they wouldn’t have before… If one person turns around instead of pushing it… If one person recognizes a slope and pauses… Then yeah, we probably did save some lives.

See you out there. Be smart. Be curious. And don’t skip the forecast.

— TrailMates Team