Lawinenlagebericht

Maritime

Valdez Avalanche Center
Auf der Karte ansehen

Lawinengefahr

Hochgebirge
3 · Erheblich
Waldgrenze
3 · Erheblich
Unterhalb
3 · Erheblich
Open full map
Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 6 months ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

The avalanche hazard is Considerable at all elevations.  Human triggered avalanches 1-3+ feet in depth are likely and natural avalanches are possible.   

Public avalanche forecasts are issued Wednesday-Sunday at 8 am. 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    2–3

    Dangerous avalanche conditions exist.  North winds will add stress to an already dangerous snowpack.  Human triggered avalanches are likely today.

    The slab above the 1/26 interface has been steadily growing in depth with small to moderate pulses of snow over the last few weeks.  Sensitivity of the 1/26 weak layer has been rising steadily as well over the last week with recent large natural and human triggered avalanches.  North wind will be changing the slab, taking snow from windward slopes and depositing on lee aspects and cross loaded terrain features.  This process stiffens the surface snow, which will increase the sensitivity of an already dangerous problem.

    Many slopes are at the tipping point and wind loading could be the mechanism to cause them to fail. The hazard will be on the increase as winds strengthen tonight into Monday morning.

     

    (2/12/2026)

    Natural persistent slab avalanche on north Catchers Mitt. Crown width mapped at~.8 miles

    Photo: Kyle Sobek

  • Wind Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    1–2

    Dangerous avalanche conditions exist today.  Winds will add cohesion to the surface snow, creating more trigger points and increasing the likelihood of human triggered and natural avalanches to occur near the surface and deeper in the snowpack.  Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended above 4000'.

    Winds switched yesterday evening from southerly to northerly and have been moderate to strong overnight.  Sensitive wind slabs have been observed and reported on 2/14, and with an increase in wind strength forecasted today, wind slab depth, distribution and sensitivity is expected to increase.  The weather service describes the upcoming wind event as being more widespread than a typical outflow that is confined to gaps and passes.

    As described in Problem 1, these winds are altering the slab above a known persistent weak layer.  Avalanches that do occur could fail deeper than the freshly loaded snow and could propagate for long distances. 

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Possible
    Größe
    2–3

    A deeply buried weak layer near the ground remains a concern, especially in steep, rocky terrain and areas with a thinner snowpack. Triggering this layer directly would be difficult, but human triggered and natural avalanches have the potential to step down to this layer, especially in the Continental zone.

    This problem is most likely to show itself where the snowpack is shallow or variable around rock outcrops, scoured features, convex rollovers, and ridge tops. Wind loading will be adding stress to weak snow at the base of our snowpack.  The stress vs. strength threshold is unknown regarding our basal facets, but we know that the Continental zone is the most concerning area.  

    (1/23/2026)

    Large connected natural hard slab avalanche associated with our deep persistent weak layer. Mt Dimond north face

    Photo: Gareth Brown

Avalanche Discussion

Avalanche activity in the last 72 hours: 

-Numerous large naturally triggered persistent slab avalanches over a widespread area. Thompson Pass Corridor (Tones Temple, Little Oddesey, Oddesey, and N cathers Mitt). Tonsina Glacier

  -small to large slab avlanches reported up Bear Creek near ice climing routes

--Photos at the bottom of the page show avalanches from last week that failed on our persistent weak layer. These avalanches are older than 72 hours, but the layer that these avalanches failed on is still very much a concern. Detailed acounts of these avalanches can be found in the observations/avalanche tab.

Forecast Discussion

North winds are forecasted to be on the increase, which will cause the avalanche hazard to be on the rise.  The formation of wind slabs will be putting stress on a known persistent weak layer.  Users should attempt to avoid freshly wind loaded slopes as avalanches could propagate deeper and wider than you may expect.

For more information regarding our snowpack, see our Season summary, Observations, and avalanche activity sections.   

Abgedeckte Regionen