Advisories are provided each Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday of the winter season, typically mid-Nov to mid-April. Avalanche warnings and significant weather and avalanche event updates are provided intermittently, depending on weather/avalanche events. A public observation platform is available all winter and monitored daily.
Executive Director
marissa@hpavalanche.org
Growing up in Buffalo, NY, Marissa’s love of snow was inevitable. Her passion for glaciers originally brought her to Alaska and she spent over ten years teaching for the National Outdoor Leadership School in Alaska, Patagonia, British Columbia, and Washington. She has over 15 years of nonprofit experience, has supervised the NOLS Alaska and Patagonia mountaineering programs and assisted Denali climbing rangers as a rescue volunteer. Marissa is passionate about providing avalanche education for Alaskan youth and creating pathways for women to work, climb, and ski in the mountains. When not out playing in the snow, you can usually find her adventuring with her pup, gardening or crafting at her home in Palmer.
Lead Forecaster
tim@hpavalanche.org
Tim began his avalanche education as a nordic skier on the windswept slopes of Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. A career as a ski bum in the Wasatch Mountains developed into a job in Snow Safety and work as a Ski Patroller and Avalanche Forecaster in Utah, New Zealand, Washington, and Alaska. From his time as a Department of Transportation Avalanche Forecaster, Tim brings a depth of experience in explosive avalanche control, remote weather monitoring, hazard management, and state bureaucracy. He enjoys long solo tours, smooth singletrack, and the view from the top.
Forecaster
andypaul@hpavalanche.org
Andy has spent the last decade between Alaska, Wyoming and the Lake Tahoe region. He has worked as a ski guide, avalanche educator for the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) and winter and mountaineering course leader for NOLS. Throughout his snow career, he has worked in maritime, intermountain and continental snowpacks from California couloirs to the Indian Himalaya. He has spent multiple years as a volunteer pro observer for Sierra Avalanche Center and the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center and has a Pro 1 and Pro 2 with the American Avalanche Institute, both courses completed in Wyoming. He is currently an aspirant ski guide with the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) and program supervisor for NOLS in Alaska, when he’s not working for HPAC. Andy is passionate about avalanche education, solving for uncertainty in remote locations with no forecast and honing the ever-changing gear for splitboarding.
Forecaster
zach@hpavalanche.org
Zach began his career in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains in 2018 as a ski patroller. This experience led him to work as a ski guide in the same range, where he developed foundational skills as an avalanche educator and in-house forecaster. In 2023/24, Zach served as the intern for the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center in southwestern Montana, followed by a season as an avalanche forecaster with the Sawtooth Avalanche Center in central Idaho. When not chasing snow on skis or snow machines, he enjoys exploring the mountains with his dogs, kayaking, or alpine guiding in the Alaska Range.
Instructor and Pro Observer
Claire has been a skier and climber from around the time she could walk and was raised exploring the backcountry of Colorado. She is a current Snow Science student at Alaska Pacific University where she is the president of the Alpine Club. In the summers Claire guides for Alaska Mountaineering School in the Alaska Range. Claire has received her Avalanche Pro Level 1 and plans to continue her education. Her favorite place to be is skiing in the alpine no matter the surface conditions.
Instructor and Pro Observer
Dylan grew up snowboarding from the age of 11 in Wisconsin. He graduated with a degree in Outdoor Leadership and Geography and led outdoor trips for his university in the Appalachian Mountains. Dylan moved to Alaska in 2018 to work for the National Outdoor Leadership School. Alaska is where he fell in love with the backcountry and began pursuing a career playing in the snowy mountains. Dylan has an Avalanche Pro Level 1 certification, has been a guide for Valdez Heli Ski Guides and is an educator for the Alaska Avalanche School. He calls Palmer home and spends much of his free time exploring the mountains of Hatcher Pass all year round.
Instructor and Pro Observer
Growing up in Palmer, Michael has enjoyed Hatcher Pass for a long time. It was where he taught himself how to ski and where he first dived into the world of snow science. Through getting a degree in Snow Science at Alaska Pacific University, several summers as a ski guide and raft guide in Haines, Michael is excited to be applying what he has learned to avalanche education. Now through the youth avalanche awareness programs with the avalanche center and as an instructor with Alaska Avalanche School, he is stoked to learn more and facilitate more learning for the Alaskan community.
The Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center INC Board of Directors are a close knit group who are residents of Southcentral Alaska. They bring valuable skills to our organization and work as volunteers behind the scenes to fundraise and ensure operations are sustainable. Interested in helping the board, or joining as a member? Email us at info@hpavalanche.org
Heather moved to Alaska in 2014 to escape the flat cornfields of central Wisconsin. She learned to ski in her mid-20s on small icy Midwestern ski hills, so it didn’t take her long to appreciate the big mountain scene Alaska had to offer. She began backcountry skiing in the winter of 2015 and has taken her Level 1 and Level 2 with the Alaska Avalanche School. Heather has more than 15 years of non-profit experience, working in wilderness therapy, education, overnight summer camps, and fundraising development. She currently works as the Assistant Director for the Alaska Avalanche School. When she’s not working or volunteering, Heather can be found seeking out couloirs to ski in the Hatcher Pass with her partner Dean or skiing low angle cruiser runs with her husky, Deni. Heather resides in Palmer, AK.
Keegan grew up skiing, building houses, and goat farming in Vermont. He works for the Alaska Snow Survey / SNOTEL program repairing weather stations and measuring snow across the state. This experience morphed into him becoming the resident weather station tech for HPAC. When he’s not gardening or woodworking, he enjoys a good slog in wild places and making turns in the white stuff with his partner & dogs.
Brian grew up in Alaska and spent much of his youth in the woods hiking, camping and cross-country skiing. He did not learn how to downhill ski until the young age of 30 after chasing his beautiful wife down to Bozeman, MT. He now lives at the base of majestic Lazy Mountain and spends most weekends out in the backcountry skiing. He enjoys giving back to his community and is excited to serve on the HPAC board.
Keeton was born and raised in the Mat-su Valley. He grew up taking family adventures to Hatcher Pass and started backcountry skiing there in high school. Currently, he teaches Mathematics at Palmer High School, enjoys skiing in Hatcher Pass on the weekends, and frequently going on adventures with his wife and children.
Tim Leach grew up skiing the “eastern blue packed powder” in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. During these formative years he learned of the direct connection between edge tuning, waxing, and speed. When he encountered real powder in the mountains of the west he had to relearn how to ski. As part of his apprenticeship to the mountains, Tim spent a decade-and-a-half leading courses with the National Outdoor Leadership School, teaching college students, business executives, and Naval Academy Midshipmen leadership and mountaineering skills. In his day job now, Tim is the Transportation Lead for Launch Alaska, a business accelerator partnering with game-changing startups from all over the world to deploy climate-tech solutions in Alaska. Tim lives in the heart of the Matanuska Valley with his son and husky and can regularly be found chasing light with his camera and adventuring in the mountains. No matter what the conditions offer, Tim is still striving to make perfect turns.
Kirsten grew up skiing from a young age, in the UP of Michigan where Lake (Superior) effect snow is abundant. She has been in Alaska since 2019, and has been backcountry skiing since her first winter here. Kirsten has developed a passion for snowmachines which offer the freedom to explore the mountains in ways previously unimagined. She has taken her Recreational Level 1 course and enjoys continuing learning about snow science.
Larry works for Red Mt. Consulting in the northern Arctic and Kenai Peninsula, when not fishing or snowboarding. Larry worked for the NOLS school, AMS, Arctic Wild, and as a carpenter. He enjoyed an eighteen-year career as a special education teacher with the Mat-Su School District. He enjoys split boarding and Nordic skiing in Hatcher Pass. Larry appreciates the excellent avalanche safety information provided by HPAC forecasters and would like HPAC to be sustainable for years to come. Larry and his family have lived on Lazy Mountain for thirty years.
Andy spent many years working for NOLS as an instructor and Alaska Mountaineering Program Supervisor. He is now an RN in Palmer. Andy is passionate about giving back to his community by helping to provide avalanche safety information at Hatcher Pass. In his spare time he enjoys chasing his wife and dog around the backcountry of Alaska.
2008-2025
In 2008, Allie co-founded the Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center. Allie has been an avid skier since age 2 and climbing since the mid 90’s. Allie switched out her race skis for a backcountry set up in the late 90’s, and never turned back. Since 2000 she has worked as an instructor and mountain guide for NOLS, Alaska Mountain Guides, Alaska Pacific University, Alaska Mountaineering School and Denali Guiding, and Arctic Wild. She has been an avalanche educator in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Washington, and Alaska. Allie loves spending time in the mountains and especially skiing. Her combined skills and interest in skiing, avalanche mitigation, and backcountry snow machining made her an exceptional avalanche forecaster and founder of HPAC. You will find Allie growing nutrient dense food at Chugach Farm, hunting, fishing, foraging, fermenting food, and training her pup Chaga, in between her time spent digging snow pits and shredding powder.
2019-2023
Jake has been in Alaska since 2010 and has taught and guided for numerous avalanche and mountaineering schools. He came to HPAC in 2019 as a professional observer and forecasted for three seasons. Jake is passionate about educating all backcountry users across the state and continues to teach for the Alaska Avalanche School, while spending summers as a Denali Climbing Ranger and a climbing guide in the Lower 48.
2023-2024
Ryan forecasted with HPAC during the 2023-2024 season. He’s also a WEMT, professional rescuer, and educator with a snowmachiner and splitboarder’s perpective.
