Bulletin d’avalanche

Continental

Valdez Avalanche Center
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Danger d’avalanche

Alpin
2 · Modéré
Limite forestière
2 · Modéré
Sous la limite
2 · Modéré
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Périmé — ce bulletin a expiré 5 months ago. Vous consultez des conditions passées, pas le bulletin en cours.

Points saillants

The avalanche hazard remains at Moderate today. It will be possible to trigger a wind slab avalanche on specific lee slopes 1-2 ft in depth. In isolated areas, triggering a smaller avalanche could step down to deeper layers of weak snow creating a larger, more dangerous avalanche. Identify slopes that are being loaded by the wind and use careful route finding to avoid consequential terrain.

Avalanche forecasts are issued Wednesday-Sunday at 8 am. 

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Possible
    Taille
    1–2

    A few inches of snow is forecasted to fall over the next 24 hours, giving the North wind additional fuel for wind slab formation. Wind slabs 1-2 ft in depth will be found on lee terrain features and cross loaded gullies. Expect sensitivity to increase throughout the day as new snow falls and is transported by the wind. Identify which slopes and terrain features are being loaded and test the sensitivity of wind slabs by riding or stomping on small inconsequential test slopes. Avoid steep rollovers that are being loaded, deep gullies, and loaded slopes above consequential terrain.

    In isolated areas triggering a winds slab could step down to deeper layers of weak snow in the snowpack, particularly north of Thompson Pass. (see problem 2)

    (3/17/2026)

    evample of a cross-loaded gully

    Photo: Gareth Brown

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Unlikely
    Taille
    1.5–3

    The weak snow buried on 1/26 is still being found about 2 ft down in protected areas. There has not been any avalanche activity on this layer for a month now, indicating that it is not under stress and that triggering this layer is unlikely at this time. With that said, isolated trigger points may still be lurking, particularly North of Thompson Pass in the Continental zone where the snowpack is thinner and temperatures have been colder. Using safe travel protocols like spacing out, spotting your partner, and riding steeper slopes one at a time is the best way to reduce your risk.

    HS-N-R2-D3-O

    Natural persistent slab avalanche on Averys/SW that failed at a PWL on 2/20 and ran full path ~3800'.

    Photo: Gareth Brown

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Unlikely
    Taille
    2.5–3.5

    Weak snow near the ground is increasingly common as you move North through our forecast zones, with the Continental zone being the most concerning. Although it still remains unlikely to trigger this layer, areas that have been scoured from strong northeast winds now have a shallower snowpack, making this layer closer to the surface and potentially easier for a rider to trigger.

    This is a low-likelihood but high-consequence problem most likely to be triggered in steep, rocky terrain and areas where the snowpack is thin or scoured. Triggering this layer directly is unlikely at this time, but avalanches that start in the upper snowpack could step down to the basal weak layer.  There is a high degree of uncertainty regarding the poor structure at the base of the snowpack.  

    (2/25/2026)

    Deep slab natural avalanche on The Wall / north/~5800'.  Failed sometime in mid February

    Photo: Jed Workman

Avalanche Discussion

Avalanche activity in the last 72 hours:  None

Forecast Discussion

More wind and cold temperatures ahead, bummer. While it doesn’t seem like much is changing in our snowpack, the cold temperatures are continuing to promote faceting which will weaken our snowpacks structure. In the short term this will not create instability as the snowpack is not under stress, but in the long term it could cause problems.

Persistent weak layers can go dormant for long periods of time, but when stress like additional snow or warmth is introduced they can reignite and become reactive again. We will continue to track the 1/26 weak layer and the deep persistent weak layers as spring progresses. Hopefully, someday, it snows again and we know for certain that temperatures will warm sometime throughout this spring. It should be a red flag whenever either significant snowfall or a dramatic increase in temperature occurs, as our weak and thin snowpack may react to this change in an abnormal way.

For more information regarding our snowpack, see our Season summary, Observations, and avalanche activity sections.  

Régions couvertes