Bollettino valanghe

Douglas Island

Coastal Alaska Avalanche Center
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Pericolo valanghe

Sun
Alta quota
2 · Moderato
Limite del bosco
2 · Moderato
Sotto il limite
2 · Moderato
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Non aggiornato — questo bollettino è scaduto 8 months ago. Stai vedendo condizioni passate, non il bollettino in corso.

In sintesi

After the major storm of last week things have begun to settle out a bit. The snowpack is highly variable right now with both depth and structure.  Both travel tests and stability test results were stubborn for the most part while in a nearby spot tests failed on isolation with the tests failing on sugary faceted snow near the ground.  A few natural avalanches have been spotted around Douglas while skiers/riders/snowmachiners all reported no signs of instability.  This likely means that while the snowpack has gained some strength there is a few persistent weak layers that cause concern.  They will be hard to initiate but if you find the right trigger point there is potential to cause a big avalanche. Likely trigger points can include areas near rocks or vegetation especially where the snowpack is thinner.

Problemi valanghivi

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alta quota
    • Limite del bosco
    • Sotto il limite del bosco
    Probabilità
    Possible
    Dimensione
    1–2.5

    Persistant slabs or persistant weak layers are a tricky problem to have as they can be highly variable and or hard to trigger. It exists at most aspects and elevations of our Douglas terrain and is basically snow or slabs sitting on top of a sugary or faceted layer.  They can remain dangerous for days, weeks, or months and require due diligence to remeber that hey are there and to act accordingly.

Avalanche Discussion

The major storm cycle last week has left us with a highly variable snowpack. While there hasn't been any reports of skier triggered avalanches as of yet, several natural avalanches have been witnessed in the fish creek valley around Eaglecrest that likely occured towards the end of last weeks storm. The main avalanche concern we are facing now is that in many places our massive new storm slab sits on top of multiple weak layers of faceted snow.  These weak layers are generally near the ground and unfortunately will be long lasting.  It is important to not let your guard down when dealing with deeply buried persistent weak layers.  While they can be subborn to trigger, finding a "sweet spot" or trigger point can cause whole slopes to fail.  Often a sweet spot can be a thinner spot on the slope or near rocks.  These conditions require careful route finding and a reassessment of perceived islands of safety or meet up zones.  Often when dealing with persistent weak layers multiple people can ski or ride a slope without issue until an unfortunate person finds a trigger point. It is importantant to remind yourself that in these conditions, tracks on a slope aren't always a sign of stability. Finally, as winds increase today watch for transporting snow in upper elevations.  New wind loading on the current snowpack could quickly increase reactivity in upper snow layers and even small avalanches could have the potential to step down to our deeper buried weak layers. 

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