Avalanche forecast

Summit Lake

Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

A person may be able to trigger an avalanche on a weak layer of snow buried up to a foot deep at upper elevations. This will be most concerning where recent winds have blown the snow into slabs a foot deep or deeper over the past week. This kind of problem can be tricky to assess, so for now we recommend avoiding big slopes or anything above high-consequence terrain like gullies, cliffs, or trees.

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Come find us at the Seattle Ridge motorized parking lot on Saturday, March 22 for our annual Turnagain Pass Avalanche Awareness Day! We will be there with Alaska Mining and Diving Supply and the Alaska Avalanche School to chat about avalanches and current conditions and to hang out with the good people of the southcentral Alaska winter community. AMDS will have demo snowmachines, and we’ll be holding down the grill and the fire pit. Stop by anytime from noon until 4:00 p.m. Details Here.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2

    The main concern in the Summit Lake are is triggering an avalanche on the weak layer of buried surface hoar that formed in early Februray and has very slowly been getting buried for the past month. This may be up to a foot deep, and will be most concerning in places where snow has been drifted into a thicker slab on top of that weak layer, or towards the north end of Summit Lake where there has been just a little more snowfall over the past month. This layer has produced many avalanches in the Turnagain Pass and Seward zones, and we suspect the only reason it hasn't been as big of a problem in Summit lake is because there just isn't as much snow on top of it yet.

    This layer may sometimes give clear warning signs when conditions are dangerous, but that won't always be the case. Skiers on Colorado Ridge noticed collapsing yesterday as they traveled, a clear sign of dangerous conditions. We've been finding this to be a difficult layer to assess, so we are avoiding steep terrain where the consequences of triggering an avalanche are higher, like large slopes or anything above terrain traps like gullies, cliffs, or trees.

    We are also continuing to monitor several deeper weak layers of faceted snow which seem to be dormant for now. These may become reactive if we see a major loading event, or when conditions warm up later this spring. For now it is unlikely someone would be able to trigger an avalanche on one of those layers.

    Glide avalanches are also still an issue and we have seen several recent glide avalanches release near Girdwood this week. Try to avoid traveling underneath glide cracks or expose one person at a time to minimize time underneath these unpredictable hazards. 

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