Avalanche forecast

Summit Lake

Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 8 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Strong winds picked up in the Summit Lake area overnight and are expected to continue today. Human-triggered avalanches around 1' deep on steep wind-loaded slopes are possible, especially where there is weak sugary snow underneath. Glide avalanches have slowed down, but we still recommend minimizing time underneath glide cracks.

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Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

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

    Recent Avalanches: It's been 10 days since a group of skiers triggered 3 wind slabs remotely in Seattle Creek drainage near Big Chief.  In the Summit Lake area, the last human-triggered avalanche was a month ago.

    The Summit Lake area has been getting the brunt of the winds during the prolonged cold, clear weather over the past few weeks. Today is no exception, with ridgetop winds averaging 30 to 40 mph with gusts to 55 mph starting last night. Those winds are expected to back off a bit today, but remain strong enough to move snow in the alpine despite the already wind-hammered snow surface.  Due to the lack of soft snow on the surface after several weeks without new snow, we don't expect natural avalanches today. However, the snowpack in Summit Lake is weak, and even a small amount of fresh wind loading could be enough to make human-triggered avalanches possible in steep alpine terrain. 

    There are several weak layers in the snowpack, including facets and buried surface hoar. The most likely way to trigger an avalanche today is in areas with stiff wind-hardened snow on top of weak sugary faceted snow about 6-12" deep. This type of avalanche can release without obvious signs of an unstable snowpack. We recommend identifying areas with lingering wind slabs using ski poles or hand pits and getting a sense of how sensitive they are before entering steep terrain. 

    Glide Avalanches: The cycle of glide avalanches has been very active throughout the season so far, but in the past week the activity seems to have slowed down significantly. Despite this encouraging trend, we always recommend identifying glide cracks and trying to minimize your time spent underneath them to avoid these potentially large and destructive avalanches. 

    (12/11/2025)

    Example of a wind slab sitting on a wind loaded slope on Manitoba. 

    Photo: Daniel Krueger

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