Bulletin d’avalanche

Summit Lake

Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center
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Danger d’avalanche

Fri
Alpin
2 · Modéré
Limite forestière
1 · Faible
Sous la limite
1 · Faible
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Périmé — ce bulletin a expiré 6 months ago. Vous consultez des conditions passées, pas le bulletin en cours.

Points saillants

Moderate northwest winds arriving later today will be enough to form fresh wind slabs 1-2' deep in the alpine.   These will be found near ridgelines and cross-loaded terrain features and may be sensitive to human triggers, particularly later in the day as wind speeds increase.  There is still a remote chance a person could trigger a very large avalanche 2-4' deep.  The latter avalanche problem is isolated to slopes above 2,500' and may be triggered from a thin spot in the snowpack.  

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Please keep the greater Lake Tahoe/ eastern Sierra snow, avalanche, and rescue community in your thoughts and prayers as they navigate a very tragic avalanche accident that occurred on the Tahoe National Forest on Tuesday.  A preliminary report can be found here. 

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Recent Avalanches: Small wind slab avalanches were reported last weekend, but no larger avalanches stepped down to deeper weak layers. 

    A trace of new snow yesterday and northwest winds forecasted in the 25-40 mph range will be enough to form fresh wind slabs in leeward terrain that may be sensitive to skiers and snowmachiners today.  With visibility improving throughout the day, keep an eye out for 'flagging' of snow blowing off ridges and high peaks.  With winds forecasted from the northwest today, slopes on the south and east side of the compass are most suspect.  Visible blowing snow or shooting cracks are obvious clues that wind slabs are forming.  Cross-loaded gullies and steep terrain just below ridgelines (your first 2-3 turns) are areas most likely to trigger a fresh wind slab 1 to 2' deep.

    In areas protected from the wind, dry loose avalanches (sluffs) are a more manageable avalanche problem you may come across today.  Whether it be a wind slab or a sluff, consider the consequences if the slope does slide before committing to avalanche terrain.

    (2/15/2026)

    Keep an eye out for snow visibly loading slopes.  Active wind transport should be easy to spot later today.  

     Photo: Eastern bowl of Colorado Peak. Andy Moderow

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Possible
    Taille
    2–3

    It's becoming less likely that a skier or snowmachiner can trigger a large and destructive avalanche 2-4' deep, but we aren't ready to write this problem off just yet.  In areas with a shallower snowpack, such as Summit Lake, a human can still affect deeper weak layers.  If you were to find the trigger point, the result would be a large and destructive avalanche.  This avalanche problem can be found on all aspects of the compass, but is isolated to elevations above ~2,500' in the Summit Lake zone. 

Régions couvertes