There are more official ways to measure the amount of snowfall in Haines this year, but the sledding hill on Mount Riley Road might be the most fun way to do it. 

The sledding hill was first created after Donnie Turner built his house at the top of the hill on Mount Riley Road. About 10 years ago, Turner said he and a few others approached the borough to see if the property next to his house could become a sledding hill. After cutting down a few trees and “smoothing it up,” the sledding hill was born.

About four or five years ago, Turner said he built a groomer to drag behind his snowmachine. He now goes and grooms the hill so that the Haines kids “have a place to play.”

But Turner said last year there was such little snow that he didn’t groom “hardly at all.” 

This year’s snowfall is closer to normal, he said. And word has gotten out, with people on social media posting updates when he gets out to groom the hill. 

“This spring break has been awesome because there’s enough snow and it’s been really good weather,” Turner said. He has seen people start sledding at nine o’clock in the morning and traverse the hill all day. On a good day, Turner estimates  40 to 50 people sled on the hill. These numbers are largely dependent on how windy or sunny it is, as well as what the snow conditions are like.

In Haines, 193.7 inches of snow has fallen from October 1, 2025 to March 22, 2026. According to National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Park, average snowfall in Haines by March 22 is 157.4 inches.

That doesn’t come close to the community’s highest recorded snowfall, according to data from Park. That came in the winter of 2011, with 358.6 inches of snow.

But the weather pattern that brought Haines its snow this year did bring record-breaking snow to Juneau, which officially beat its 2006 all-time snowfall record of 197.8 inches. As of March 25, Juneau has had 201.2 inches of snow.  

According to Park, this abnormal weather can be blamed on a persistent weather pattern that sees cold air from Canada mixing with warm air from the Gulf of Alaska. 

Park said that he’s unsure what this weather pattern means for next year.

What the National Weather Service can more accurately predict is the weather for the upcoming week. Park said for the next week the Chilkat Valley should expect colder and drier weather.

Depending on if Haines gets more snow, the Mount Riley Road sledding hill will be a popular spot until the conditions change.

“I think it’s cool to have a good spot for the kids to play outside versus playing on their computer,” Turner said.