Quick report
We traveled to Lost Lake via Fireman’s Trail. We found about 3 inches of new snow in the parking lot in the morning, with another 3 inches accumulating on the vehicle by the end of the day. The first hill on the trail was icy and required several ski pulls, but with snow falling at sea level throughout the day, trail conditions should continue to improve. The remainder of the trail was manageable, with only a few icy patches that required additional ski pulls. Snow fell for most of the day, increasing in the late afternoon and reducing visibility above treeline.
We dug a snowpit near Lost Lake at 2,200 ft on a north-facing aspect and found the weak December facets buried 40 inches deep. Although this persistent weak layer is becoming more deeply buried in the Seward zone, it has not healed or disappeared and snowpit tests still produced unstable results. As the snow continues to build above this layer, triggering avalanches may become more difficult; however, a rider could still find a thinner spot and trigger a very large avalanche with serious consequences.
On the drive back toward Girdwood, we observed temperatures around 34°F, with mixed rain and snow falling in Turnagain Pass below 1000'.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 28 at the parking area
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- light
- Rain Elevation
- Sea level
- Recent Snowfall
- 15
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Snow fell throughout the day, with heavy snowfall in the late afternoon and southeast winds of up to 15 mph just above treeline.
Snowpack
We dug a snowpit on a north-facing aspect at 2,200 ft on the shoulder of Mt. Ascension, just above Lost Lake and found roughly 40 inches of dense snow sitting over our December facet layer. A Propagation Saw Test produced an unstable result on this facet layer (PST 49/100, End).