Summit Lake

The avalanche danger is LOW, due to the prolonged period of cold and clear weather and lack of recent avalanche activity. Avalanches are unlikely, but not impossible. Practicing safe travel techniques like going one at a time in avalanche terrain, spotting your partners, and grouping up in a safe spot is still recommended during periods of low danger. 

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Free Forecaster Chat at the Breeze Inn in Seward, March 5! Grab some food and drink at 6pm on March 5 and join CNFAC forecaster Mik Dalpes to discuss the ‘state of the snowpack’, learn about resources on the CNFAC website, discuss tips for managing persistent slab problems, and bring your hard question for a Q & A.  The Mt. Alice room is located just off the lobby of The Breeze Inn Hotel, located at 303 North Harbor Dr. right off 3rd Ave in Seward.

Recent Avalanches: Several wind slabs were reported during last week's strong northwest winds. 

Despite the relatively thin and weak snowpack in Summit Lake, we are dropping the danger to low because natural and human-triggered avalanches are unlikely. The snow surface has been hammered by strong winds during this prolonged dry spell. The snowpack structure remains weak, with layers of facets from December buried 2 to 4' deep in the snowpack still our main concern. When the next weather event brings additional precipitation to the area, these weak layers will become active again. But for now, it has been 11 days since the last natural avalanche on these weak layers, and we believe they are in a dormant phase until the next loading event. If someone triggers an avalanche from a thin and particularly weak spot in the snowpack, it could still produce a large avalanche. You can always hedge your bets and stick to simple, low-angle terrain to completely avoid this problem. 

As always, low danger doesn't mean no danger. Isolated wind slab avalanches in steep terrain are the most likely type of avalanche to catch us off guard during low danger conditions. The very cold temperatures are helping to keep the snow surface temperatures low, but in steep, rocky south-facing terrain, the sun is strong enough to produce some small wet loose avalanches in the afternoon.