Avalanche forecast

Summit Lake

Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Fri
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Strong winds and new snow will make dangerous avalanche conditions today. It will be easy to trigger an avalanche 1 to 3' deep on slopes getting loaded by the wind, and we may see some large avalanches failing naturally. There are several weak layers buried deeper in the snowpack that may make for larger avalanches. We also expect the widespread glide avalanche activity to continue.

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the Summit Lake area.

The Powderhound in Girdwood will be donating a portion of sales from their White Friday sales event this Friday to the Friends of the Chugach Avalanche Center. Support a local business, avalanche center, and get a good deal all in one stop!

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    2

    Recent Avalanches:  The last known human-triggered avalanches in Summit Lake occurred over the weekend. One occurred on Saturday,  triggered remotely by a skier ascending Tenderfoot Ridge. The other was triggered Sunday by people riding a nearby slope on Tenderfoot. Several new glide avalanches were noticed on Tri-Tip, Fresno, Frenchy, and Butch.

    While the Summit Lake zone will likely see less snow than the rest of our advisory area, the strong winds expected today will still make for dangerous avalanche conditions. This will be blowing snow onto an unstable snowpack, making it likely that a person can trigger a large avalanche. There is a good chance these may fail deeper in the snowpack (see Problem 2 for more). 

    If you are planning on getting out to work up an appetite for turkey dinner, it will be very important to approach steep terrain with a cautious mindset. All steep slopes are suspect today, and those that are being actively loaded will be most dangerous. These will most likely be found near ridgelines, convex rolls, and steep gullies. Look for safer conditions and better snow in low-angle sheltered terrain.

     

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    2

    We are tracking two layers of buried surface hoar that have been showing signs of concern since last week's storm and are likely to wake up today. By the time the snow finishes, these layers will be anywhere from 2 to 3' deep and have the potential to propagate long distances, making for very large avalanches. These may start failing naturally as the new snow and wind adds stress to the snowpack, and they have the potential to run long distances into low-elevation runout zones.

    Some of these avalanches have been triggered remotely from lower angle terrain connected to steeper slopes. Be carefuly how you travel near steep terrain- you might be able to trigger a large avalanche from lower-angle terrain at the bottom of a steep slope. For now, the best way to manage this problem is to avoid traveling on or below steep slopes.

    (11/23/2025)

  • Glide Cracks

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

    Widespread glide avalanche activity is expected to continue throughout our forecast zones. These have been releasing on all aspects, and some avalanches have occurred in well-traveled areas. Today's storm will cover existing glide cracks, making them very hard to identify. This is just one more reason to avoid any terrain with steep slopes overhead, and will be something important to pay attention to after the storm passes.

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