SKAGWAY, Alaska — Two rockslides in a three-day period last week have led to the full closure of the White Pass & Yukon dock at the Port of Skagway, and the dock is expected to remain closed for the remainder of the 2022 sailing season.
The website Cruise Hive reports slides on Wednesday, Aug. 3, and Friday, Aug. 5, both damaged the dock, with the Friday slide causing significant damage to shipping containers used to create a tunnel to protect pedestrians from falling rocks.
Skagway Mayor Andrew Cremata has declared a state of emergency as a result of the slides, which should help the community attract federal and state assistance to deal with the mountainside above the dock. “It’s a tremendous problem,” Cremata said at an Aug. 6 meeting. “I guarantee you it is one we’re going to solve before next season because we don’t have any other choice.”
One of the two berths on the dock had previously been closed after a June rockslide and an engineering assessment that a possible “catastrophic” slide was possible for the hillside above the dock [see “Part of White Pass & Yukon dock at Skagway closed …,” Trains News Wire, July 27, 2022].
The WP&Y dock is the only one in Skagway capable of handling the largest cruise ships, so some are now bypassing Skagway for other locations. Cremata estimates the city may lose as much as half its expected tourism for the cruise season. The White Pass & Yukon, which is heavily reliant on traffic from the cruise ships, is Skagway’s largest employer.
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