Avalanche forecast

Hatcher Pass

Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Fri
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

The avalanche danger today is LOW for all aspects and elevations. 

Warm stable weather has caused our snowpack to become more cohesive.

Variable surface conditions exist. Use normal caution while recreating in the backcountry. 

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Thanks for selling out our Winter Raffle! Prizes will be announced on February 28th.

Join HPAC for the next State of the Snowpack at Blue & Gold in Wasilla on February 26th at 7pm. 

Avalanche Discussion

A week of warm temperatures following two weeks of drought in this weak La Niña year has stabilized the snowpack. Two nights of above-freezing temperatures below 2,600' have impacted surface conditions at lower elevations. At upper elevations, we are seeing a variety of lingering sugary, faceted snow, scouring, and stiff, wind affected surfaces.  It has been several weeks since any significant avalanches have been observed.

With variable surfaces, use NORMAL CAUTION when assessing terrain: backcountry travelers should apply standard protocols, such as carrying rescue gear, traveling one at a time through avalanche terrain, and watching for signs of instability. 

Forecasters and the public continue to track areas of poor structure and PERSISTENT WEAK LAYERS of snow buried near the ground. These layers have been unreactive to both snowpit tests and the impact of backcountry travelers, and until something changes we're not expecting this layer to be a problem. 

CORNICES that formed as winds blew at the end of the late January storm event are observable throughout the forecast area on leeward terrain (predominantly W-NW-N). Look out for existing cracks, sagging, or hollow feeling areas on corniced ridgelines. With overnight freezes at higher elevations, they should not be unstable but do be observant--cracks in cornices have faceted and loosened and it would not be impossible to pull off an unstable block. 

On wind protected, shady aspects at upper elevations 4,500'+, it could be possible to trigger a DRY LOOSE sluff. This problem is going to be easy to identify; in isolated steep and extreme terrain like tight gullies and couloirs, look for entries into features that have deep, loose, and faceted snow and manage terrain accordingly. 

RECENT AVALANCHES:

We have not seen any avalanches since a possible remote snowmachine triggered avalanche sometime after the 1/27 storm break. 

Regions covered