The slide adjacent to Skagway’s railroad dock. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Cremata)
Ships are back at Skagway’s largest cruise dock after a rockslide near the facility Saturday morning.
No one was injured in the slide. But it did cause two ships to relocate. By Sunday, the docking schedule was back to normal.
The slide took place at approximately 6:30 a.m. Saturday on a steep cliff neighboring the railroad dock. The vessels Island Princess and Volendam were moored there. Passengers had not yet disembarked when the slide occurred.
According to the National Weather Service, Skagway experienced heavy rainfall in the week leading up to the slide. The day before, Friday, the Skagway airport registered the highest one-day rainfall this month — 0.41 inches.
The White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad is Skagway’s cruise terminal operator and owns the railroad dock.
White Pass official Tyler Rose said some of the debris made it onto the dock, despite barriers in place to protect it from this type of event. A railing shielding the dock was damaged. Beyond that, Rose said damage was minimal.
Rose said the slide area was assessed by geotechnical engineers. It was cleared for ships to resume mooring by Sunday.
The slide happened to take place on one of Skagway’s slower ship days, when there was space available to move the affected ships.
Rose did not return calls for more information on Monday.
Skagway Borough Manager Scott Hahn said Monday afternoon the only information he had about the slide came from a news report. He said he hoped to review White Pass’s geotechnical assessment of the area before deciding if the borough should take any action.
This story has been updated.
