About

Through numerous company name iterations, David Hamre has been an avalanche consultant since his work establishing the Seward Highway Avalanche Program in 1979 under his original company, Alcan Avalanche Services. During the early and mid-1980s, several projects were undertaken primarily for industrial clients in Alaska, such as Coronado Mine, Terror Lake Hydro Project, and Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. Notable besides the number of operational programs established was the 1982 study for Alyeska Pipeline Service Company comparing avalanche issues for alternative alignments of the Trans Alaska Pipeline over Atigun Pass. This project involved original research into slush flow avalanche behaviors, including deriving the frequency/magnitude relationships.

The Alaska Railroad (AKRR) had an avalanche risk that manifested itself in 1980 in a significantly damaging event. Hamre began work on this project shortly after, culminating in a full-time avalanche program with artillery usage by 1985. As an employee, this work went on for the next 37 years. Throughout that period, Hamre continued to do avalanche consulting work for ski areas, mines, highways, and railroads, originally through David Hamre and Associates, Inc. (1985 to 1995),  followed by Chugach Adventure Guides (1995 to 2008) and finally through David Hamre and Associates, LLC (2008 to present). Upon retirement from the AKRR in 2018, his ability to accomplish more than a few consulting projects a year increased considerably and was further expanded by the addition of staff.