South Fork of Eagle River

Snow depth greatly increased in gullies and high alpine bowls. We observed 1 to 2" of  fresh snow at the trailhead and up to 6" of fresh soft snow on top of supportable wind slab in the gullies and bowls. At lower elvations the snow surface beneath the new snow was slick and icy. Ski crampons came in handy.

We dug several snow pits at around 4000' just off the main ridge of Harp Mountain. We found similar structure to what we have been seeing in most locations in the Chugach State Park- new snow, older faceting wind slab, and depth hoar. In this particular location the older wind slab was softer in comparison to areas like Glen Alps or Upper Rabbit Creek or heavily wind-hammered areas. We did get propigation in both our pits (ECTP16 and ECTP23) and in both pits the wind slab popped out like a cash register on the depth hoar wind slab interface. The depth hoar was in an advanced stage- 5-6mm in size, striated  and chained.  Given the unstable test results- we decided to return down the ridge and ski a lower angle arm off the ridge to limit our exposure.

The natural wind slab activity over the weekend has broken the Chugach State Park's long stretch of no documented avalanche activity.  Furthermore, shallow snow depths with cooler temperatures this season has created advanced depth hoar in many of high elevation start zone. 

We realize it's spring break for a lot of folks so people may be traveling deeper into the park and have longer ambitious days plan. A new mindset is needed for the recent change in conditions.