Observations

Front Range – North Fork Campbell Creek & Upper Snowhawk Valley:

Today we toured up the N Fork Campbell Creek and dropped into the Upper Snowhawk valley from Tikishla Pass. Here are some scenes from the day, including a SS-N-D2-R3-I wind slab that released in the Tanaina north couloir. Also, pictured is a HS-N-D2.5-R3-O persistent slab on a SW aspect of Pt 1430 (upper Snowhawk valley headwall) that ran ~700’, has a ~4’ crown, and propagated widely. It likely slid on an old crust overlain by facets.

The @anchorage_avalanche_center is an alternative #avalanche center. It’s #grassroots and #volunteer, having began as a Master of Science in #Outdoor and #Environmental #Education thesis project @alaskapacific #university. It doesn’t receive any funding, nor does it fundraise. Although, we are working on developing sustainable and alternative revenue sources. For the past several years, the @anchorage_avalanche_center has primarily been a labor of #love; a product of passionate #steep skiers giving back to their local #backcountry #community. #Anchorage, #Alaska has a #worldclass #mountain #playground as its #backyard, but at least 16 people have died from avalanche related fatalities in these #mountains. Countless other close-calls, near-misses, and non-fatal accidents have occurred. Yet, there was never an organized avalanche info program prior to the thesis project that became the @anchorage_avalanche_center. As we’re not beholden to any predetermined models, we operate differently. Please don’t judge harshly. As we have a passion for steep #skiing and #alpinism, we hope you can learn from what we share. We’re not encouraging #dangerous, risk-taking behavior in our posts. We are just sharing what we do to make our adventures possible. Maybe there’s something to be learned… Today we toured up the N Fork Campbell Creek and dropped into the Upper Snowhawk valley from Tikishla Pass. Here are some scenes from the day, including a SS-N-D2-R3-I wind slab that released in the Tanaina north #couloir. Also, pictured is a HS-N-D2.5-R3-O persistent slab on a SW aspect of Pt 1430 (upper Snowhawk valley headwall) that ran ~700’, has a ~4’ crown, and propagated widely. It likely slid on an old crust overlain by facets.

A post shared by Anchorage Avalanche Center (@anchorage_avalanche_center) on Mar 20, 2018 at 7:43pm PDT

A couple more #avalanche observations today from the Upper Snowhawk valley near Tanaina Lake. See prior post for more info. The deep crown in the narrow chute is off Tikishla north aspect at ~4750’ ran over 1000’.

A post shared by Anchorage Avalanche Center (@anchorage_avalanche_center) on Mar 20, 2018 at 8:17pm PDT