Avalanche forecast

Summit Lake

Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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

Lingering wind slabs up to 1' deep from yesterday's easterly winds could cause human triggered avalanches in wind loaded areas at upper elevations. Sun triggered avalanches on steep solar aspects may release naturally with the clear skies and warm temperatures today. A buried weak layer about 1 to 2' deep could cause larger avalanches in isolated areas. To avoid this problem you can stick to low angle terrain without steeper terrain overhead.

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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

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Lingering wind slabs from gusty easterly winds yesterday could cause human triggered avalanches at upper elevations. These could be up to 1' deep and are most likely along ridgelines, cross-loaded gullies, and rollovers. Keep an eye out for shooting cracks or hollow feeling pillows of snow to identify locations with wind slabs. 

    The sunny conditions today could also trigger surface snow avalanches on steep solar aspects (east, south, west), which could be large enough to be dangerous to a person. Sun-triggered avalanches might be limited to loose snow on the surface or could trigger small slab avalanches within the new snow from the past few days. These smaller wind slabs and sun-triggered new snow avalanches have the potential to step down to a deeper weak layer and cause a much larger avalanche.  

    Additional concerns include cornice fall along ridgelines and glide avalanches. The best way to avoid these hazards is to minimize your time spent underneath corniced ridgelines and glide cracks and if you are traveling along a ridgeline give cornices a wide berth. 

  • Persistent Slabs

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

    The same layer of buried surface hoar that is causing very large human triggered avalanches in the Turnagain Pass and Seward forecast areas also exists in the Summit Lake area, but it is not buried as deeply and seems to be less widespread. On Colorado yesterday Mik found the layer about 1' deep but did not get concerning results in her snowpit tests. This type of weak layer can be tricky to evaluate using snow pits, but the lack of recent natural or human triggered avalanches on this layer in the Summit Lake area is a good sign that it is not as concerning compared to the other forecast areas. 

    If you want to avoid the potential to trigger an avalanche on this layer the best practice is to stick to low angle slopes and avoid areas with steeper slopes connected overhead. In wind loaded areas where the layer has been recently loaded it might be easier for a person to trigger an avalanche on this weak layer.

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