A free hut near Snowbird Glacier could get a new 10-year state lease

There's a backcountry hut near Snowbird Glacier in the Talkeetna Mountains where, unlike most shelters along the Bomber Traverse, you don't need a membership to stay. "If you can get yourself there, you can stay for free," said Jesse Billingham, lodging director for the American Alpine Club.

The state moved this week to keep it that way. The Southcentral Regional Land Office issued a preliminary decision Tuesday to offer the club a 10-year lease for the quarter-acre site, which holds the existing hut and an outhouse, on state land set aside for public or charitable use.

The Alaska section of the club calls Snowbird its first hut, and first signed a lease for the site in 2008.

A public comment period of at least 30 days will follow before the state makes a final decision.