Item: The White Pass and Yukon Route Avalanche Program, Forecasting and Risk Management for a Historical Railroad
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Title: The White Pass and Yukon Route Avalanche Program, Forecasting and Risk Management for a Historical Railroad
Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop 2016 Proceedings, Breckenridge, CO, USA
Authors:
- Bill Glude [ Alaska Avalanche Specialists, Juneau, AK, USA ]
Date: 2016-10-02
Abstract: The White Pass and Yukon Route (WPYR) is a narrow gauge railroad built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush. Considered impossible to build by many who studied the route, it was blasted through the Coast Range from Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory in only 26 months, and is a designated International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. The WPYR suspended operations in 1982 when the Yukon?s mining industry collapsed due to low mineral prices. The railway was reopened in 1988 as a seasonal tourism operation and today is Alaska?s most popular shore excursion, carrying over 390,000 cruise ship passengers during the tourism season. The route to the White Pass goes through 17 major avalanche paths and numerous minor zones. In the early days, as was typical for the time, there was no avalanche program beyond relying on the experience and historical knowledge of the crews. Crews now begin snow-clearing operations at the end of March, and summer passenger operations begin with the arrival of the first ships in late April, while avalanche season runs through through mid-May, and can run into June. In 2007, Alaska Avalanche Specialists was called in to do an annual springtime snowpack evaluation. In 2015, as part of a system-wide risk management upgrade, operations transitioned to a modern avalanche program with crew training, daily forecasts and observations, regular fieldwork, closures and work area restrictions, and helicopter and hand blasting as necessary.
Object ID: ISSW16_P4.48.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s):
Keywords: railroad, avalanche program, Alaska, Yukon
Page Number(s): 1364-1371
Subjects: avalanche program alaska railroad
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