News

Remembering Wendy Wagner

Our Director Wendy Wagner passed away in her sleep earlier this week after fighting ovarian cancer for the last year and a half. She spent her last few weeks surrounded by family and friends. It is hard to put into words what she meant to our team, the Alaska snow community, and the national avalanche community. But we’ll try.

Wendy was a mentor, a leader, and a close friend to many. Accomplished, humble and genuinely caring, people were always her main concern. Everyone including avalanche forecasters, Forest Service coworkers, professional friends, and the community at large. Any change, any decision regarding the avalanche center always came down to one question — what is best for the community? This was not some unspoken virtue, it was something she talked about often, and her concern was always 100% genuine.

She shared with us at our last staff meeting just last week, that people had been asking her what’s on her bucket list? She said the only thing she wanted to do was “work at the avalanche center with all of us”. She has built something remarkable, and we are lucky to be able to carry the torch. Wendy set an incredibly high standard for trust and respect among our team and within our community. During her 15 seasons at the avalanche center, she built a solid foundation of partnerships and systems that will benefit our community well into the future.

A few stats about Wendy:

• She started at CNFAC during the 2010/11 season
• 742 forecasts
• First Chugach Avy fx: 02/06/2011
• Final Chugach Avy fx: 04/13/2025 (High danger, P1: Storm Slab/ P2: Deep Slab!)
• 452 observations
• First Chugach Avy Obs: Seattle Creek 11/20/2011
• Final Chugach Avy Obs: Seattle Creek 3/15/2025

A note from the Friends of the Chugach Avalanche Center board President:

Wendy Wagner, the director of the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center, recently passed away. Wendy was the best — a leader, mentor, friend.

Wendy was a two-time Olympian in cross-country skiing, a demon on a dirt bike and pure fun on a snowmachine. Wendy also had a Master’s degree in atmospheric sciences. She wrote scientific papers and supported our forecasters to write and present papers on snow science.

Nothing made you feel more comfortable than a smile from Wendy. She would turn ordinary into amazing just by asking what you thought. A better, nicer, more encouraging person could not be found. She was a cheerful beacon for Alaska’s community of snow enthusiasts. Wendy’s love of the outdoors was boundless. Some say Shakespeare wrote this, but I think it was Wendy:

“And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.”

On behalf of the board of Friends of the Chugach Avalanche Center,
Michael R. Smith
Board President