Juneau’s known for its beautiful mountains and seemingly endless trails. They’re just some of the many draws that bring 1.7 million cruise ship passengers to Alaska’s capital city each summer.
But this year, at least five people died in the backcountry around Juneau, including tourists, a seasonal worker, a local and a researcher. Two people died in separate incidents on Mount Roberts, two others on popular hiking trails and one on top of Mendenhall Glacier.
The data isn’t readily available to say how unusual this summer was, but some of the deaths came after extensive search and rescue.
“Deaths on the mountains in Juneau are not uncommon. However, we saw a lot more this year,” said Andrew Pantiskas, the EMS chief for Capital City Fire/Rescue.
But he said there isn’t anything he could point to about this summer that made it different than others. Pantiskas said there are ways that people can prepare themselves for an emergency situation in the backcountry.
“One of the biggest things that we always remind people to do is have a travel plan, have a flight plan, have a trail plan — whatever you want to call it,” he said. “Have someone who’s not with you, who knows when you’re supposed to be back where you’re going, and knows your contact info.”
He listed other things hikers should do to prepare, too, like dressing for the weather, having a charged phone and a head lamp.
Pete Boyd with Juneau Mountain Rescue said it’s easy to become complacent about the dangers of being out in the mountains, especially on clear days.
“Serious things can happen to anybody at any time,” he said. “There was no major weather. There’s nothing out of the ordinary about this year, but we’ve had five deaths.”
In September, a Texas man visiting on a cruise ship died after falling off a steep mountainside on Mount Roberts near downtown. A man with him at the time also fell and suffered minor injuries.
Another cruise ship passenger died from a fall on the mountain earlier this year. Both tourists died after taking the popular Goldbelt Tram to get to the top of Mount Roberts. Boyd said mountains can become much more dangerous in the dark or bad weather.
“The biggest thing is: stay on the trails there. If you think you’re on a shortcut, it’s not a shortcut,” he said. “The number of times we’ve gone out for people where they’re like, ‘Oh, well, I thought this would be a quicker way down and it looks like a trail,’ [but] it’s a game trail, or even just a stream that leads to a cliff.”
McHugh Pierre, Goldbelt’s president and CEO, said the company has safety signs posted on trails for visitors exiting onto the mountain at the top. He said staff also warn people of the dangers as they ride the tram up the mountain and use the trails.
“People need to respect that Alaska is the frontier,” he said. “It is on the edge of wilderness, and just because you can see a town doesn’t mean that you’re not in the wild and facing all of the challenges that that wilderness throws at you.”
He said after this summer, Goldbelt plans to increase signage and education efforts for visitor safety.
The cruise tourism season in Juneau ended this week after a nearly 200-day season.
