Summit Lake

Winds have calmed down making chances for a human triggered avalanche unlikely in Summit Lake. However, with elevated easterly ridgetop winds two days ago, there is a chance a lingering pocket of unstable snow could be found, especially on steep upper elevation slopes. Other hazards to watch for include cornices that are warming in the sun that could fail and glide cracks that could release without warning.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

It's not too late to get your tickets for SnowBall 2025 - this Friday! The Friends of the Chugach Avalanche Center and the Alaska Avalanche School are hosting the annual Snowball to celebrate another great winter season! There will be a silent auction, hors d’oeuvres, and live music from Wiley Post. All funds raised will benefit snow and avalanche safety in Alaska. Join us for a great night! 

Click here for more information.

It is back to calm and sunny today for one more day before the pattern shifts. Elevated easterly ridgetop winds on Monday created blowing snow and wind slabs in Turnagain Pass and Summit Lake. These are 2 days old by now and should be stabilizing, but keep an eye out for stiff snow over softer snow especially in the upper elevations. Stubborn wind slabs aren't as likely to give a warning sign like a shooting crack so watch for hazards in the runout below in case an unlikely avalanche occurs. The sun is having an effect on the snow in several ways. First, with warm temperatures, sun, and calm wind we could see natural loose avalanches especially near rocks on steep south facing slopes. Second, cornice falls could occur naturally or be triggered by a human or machine especially in the heat of the afternoon. Last, the sun has been heating up the south facing slopes and a thin sun crust is present in many areas. This last effect isn't much of a problem right now, but may start to affect the riding conditions and become a layer for an avalanche to slide on with a new load of snow especially since it has surface hoar sitting on top of it in many places. 

Another fresh glide avalanche was observed yesterday above Johnson Lake, which is in the Bench Peak area on the north border of the Summit Lake zone. We aren't seeing a lot of these glide cracks releasing, but with their unpredictable nature it's still a good idea to avoid spending any time underneath if possible.

Deep Persistent Slabs: It has been 17 days since a large avalanche was triggered on weak layers near the ground in Summit Lake. It is very unlikley the weight of a human could trigger a deep persistent slab with this many days of stable weather. However, we keep mentioning this problem because we know poor structure exists (large slab over a weak layer) in the snowpack in the Summit Lake zone, which can be unnerving and is something to keep in mind when choosing objectives.