Anchorage Snowmobile Club, Inc.

❄That’s a wrap for snow machine access in Hatcher Pass! ❄

Looks like breakup season won the battle. 🤷‍♀️

The combination of fresh snow on an isothermal trail is brutal — everything underneath turns to saturated mush, and once those melt ponds start appearing, it’s basically game over.

⭐😎A huge shoutout to the Hatcher Pass Snow Riders Club. Groups like the Snow Riders are the reason those trails are rideable all winter long. Marking routes, clearing hazards, maintaining signage, and putting in countless volunteer hours is a massive effort that most riders never fully see behind the scenes. Real people make the trails rideable … usually late at night, in terrible weather with frozen fingers and questionable life choices.

What an incredible night in Wasilla! Our general meeting at Hatcher Pass Polaris was truly something special.

A huge thank you to Hatchers Pass Polaris helping hold the event, Big Lake Trails, HPAC, and Skeetawk Hatcher’s Pass Alaska, Hatcherspass Snowriders Club, for coming together to create such an unforgettable informative experience for our members. The energy, the community, and the shared passion for the outdoors made this one for the books.

We believe this may have been the very first meeting we’ve held in the Mat-Su Valley—and if tonight was any indication, it definitely won’t be the last. So grateful to be part of such an amazing community! ❄️💙

dont forget to check your snowmachine registation before heading across any state land! 85% goes toward the grooming pool anyway
(not current? the link is feature-posted at the top of this page)

Just in case you haven't heard, Ptarmigan Trailhead out near Eagle River is open for snowmachining. There is about 28" of snow to welcome you at the bridge, so dress in layers, because it is COLD! ❄️❄️☃️

You want to know some interesting facts about the Ptarmigan?

The Lagopus lagopus alascensis, more commonly known as the Willow Ptarmagin in Alaska, or even better, colloquially called the Alaskan Snow Chicken, was democratically elected by school children in 1955 to be the official state bird of Alaska. That's right, four years before Alaska was officially made the 49th state of the United States of America, we had a state bird already picked out.

Willow Ptarmigan have adaptive plumage that changes throughout the year to better suit their surroundings. In the summer, they have a speckled, earthy brown plumage that blends in well with the mountainous woods in which they reside. In the fall going into winter, they develop a very pure white coloration, offering perfect snow camouflage.

There is, however, a transition period between the two colorations where they are a mix of the two, which is particularly humorous in the spring, when they are still very white and stick out like a sore thumb in the woods, but still believe if they hold perfectly still, they will be invisible... but they most definitely are not.

Have you ever seen a ptarmigan just chilling on the trailside? It probably thinks you can't see it.