Approximately 80 skiers, the Galena basketball team and two officials were stranded in Valdez last weekend when the Richardson Highway was closed due to heavy snow. The Palmer ski team left after the meet on Saturday and made it home, but the other teams stayed in Valdez to attend the VHS Winter Ball. The Lathrop, North Pole, Hutchison and Eielson ski teams ended up stranded in Valdez until Tuesday afternoon at 2pm when Thompson Pass opened. Galena ended up staying at the Best Western but all the ski teams stayed at hotel Valdez High School. VHS Athletic Director Todd Wegner said, “The teams had a chance to get out and enjoy our snow by skiing on our trails and shoveling for various residents in the vicinity of the High School. They enjoyed hiking around, a movie at the Civic Center and swimming at our pool. They also did remote learning in our library and a few students took advantage of joining in some of our classes”. The students were fed out of our Culinary Arts room or joined in the VHS hot lunch program.
Wegner said ski teams didn’t end up getting home until Wednesday afternoon because their bus had some mechanical issues so they spent the night in Glennallen on Tuesday night and made the final trek home on Wednesday.