Observations
Arctic Valley backcountry:
Eagle River – South Fork – Harp area:
Skied around Harp today. Observed eight recent natural slides on repeat offenders. Probably the worst whumping (collapsing) and shooting cracks I have ever seen. Everything slid to the ground/bushes as there is a very faceted basal weak layer.
Arctic Valley:
We experienced a lot of whumphing and shooting cracks in Arctic Valley. So much so that we turned around even though the skies were blue and the snow quality was glorious!
Front Range – Bear Valley:
The below observation is sourced from the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center’s observations page. It has been edited by the Anchorage Avalanche Center for clarity.
Red Flags:
No obvious signs, but active wind loading of N/NW aspects.
Weather
Broken sky, with winds from S/SE. Gusts up to 35 mph. Air Temp: 32º F.
New snow on leeward aspects. Rapid wind loading.
Snow surface
Dry snow, transported from wind. A few pockets turning into wind crust, but mostly turning into possible wind slabs on some aspects and slopes.
Snowpack
No pits. But a few hand shear & pole tests on the way. Pulling little slab up to 10 cm thickness: 29º NW aspect.
Hand Shear test, clean wind slab on NW aspect:
Active wind loading:
Location:
