Alyeska

Storm Day Strategy

Alyeska's in-bounds avalanche terrain runs to a genuinely large scale under the right storm setup: a single 190"+/18"-SWE cycle over Dec 2012 produced 160+ Class II-or-larger avalanches inside the ski-area boundary, and named zones (Lolo's, Pandora's, Ragdoll, the Banjo area, Gail's Gulley, Prospector, Silvertip Face, Max's NE Face, Shadows, Headwall) are professionally patrolled/gun-controlled avalanche paths, not open powder stashes to be free-skied ahead of control clearance. A separate, rain-driven event (Jan 2016) shows the same terrain also releases as wet slabs when heavy rain reaches upper-mountain elevations (~1800 ft) even outside a classic cold-storm cycle. This is control-work/hazard framing, not a skiing recommendation - treat named zones as context for why terrain opens when it does, not a stash guide.