Avalanche forecast

Summit Lake

Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Fri
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
No rating
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Out of date — this forecast expired 2 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

There's still a chance that a human could trigger a large avalanche above 2,500' in the Summit Lake area. Strong ridgetop winds are forecast today from the east and wind loaded areas are the most likley places to trigger one of these avalanches. Staying off of steep wind loaded slopes is the way to avoid this altogether.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–3

    The wind is forecast to blow from the east at 35 to 45 mph today and Summit might get a trace of new snow. This weather is not likely to add much stress to the suspect layer of weak snow near the ground that is causing the persistent slab problem. However, if you are getting into steep terrain today, something to keep in mind is that this type of problem usually doesn't provide us with any red flags like whumpfing sounds or shooting cracks. We recommend assessing the snowpack before committing to steep terrain as this is the only way to get information about this type of problem.

    We gathered some information from the Summit area this week, but it's only 3 data points so we still have some uncertainty about what the chances are of a human being able to trigger an avalanche on the weak layer at the ground. The information we did get is encouraging and telling us the snowpack is gaining strength and it is becoming more difficult for a human to trigger a large avalanche.

    Wind slab: There's a chance we could trigger a wind slab avalanche today, but with the low amount of snow available to be moved around we don't think it would be very big (less than 6"). Our main concern with new wind loading is that a small wind slab could trigger a much larger persistent slab avalanche.

     

     

    (12/17/2024)

    This photo is taken on the Tenderfoot Ridge looking southwest towards Summit Peak. The south facing slopes on Tenderfoot that drop off to the left in this photo are some of the slopes that harbor the poor snowpack structure.

    Photo: Daniel Krueger

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