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We climbed and skied Ptarmigan and Peak 4.5 today. Front Range surface conditions are classically variable with copious amounts of windboard (both the bad breakable and good supportable variety). There are two to three persistent weak layers of concern (basal facets and depth hoar, faceting around last Sunday-Monday’s freezing drizzle crust, and faceting around an older buried melt-freeze crust that exists in some areas). The snowpack has been heavily windloaded from strong winds yesterday and today. Dangerous wind and persistent slab avalanches could be human triggered in the upper elevations (especially on wind loaded terrain that’s prevalent along leeward ridges, near peaks, and along cross loaded gullies). Safe and responsible alpine adventures in and around avalanche terrain will require diligent snowpack stability assessment and expert terrain management skills.

A post shared by Anchorage Avalanche Center (@anchorage_avalanche_center) on Dec 22, 2018 at 8:47pm PST

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Front Range observations from Rabbit Creek today: Ptarmigan #snowpit at 4230’, 257* W aspect, 33* slope, ~100cm HS, ECTP16 sudden collapse on basal facets and depth hoar at the ground. The other persistent weak layer to beware of is faceting around last Sunday-Monday’s freezing drizzle crust. In upper elevation leeward start zones where this persistent weak layer is expected to be most dangerous, it’s generally buried 8”+ deep. #Anchorage #Alaska #Chugach #Mountains #skiing #climbing #CharacterBuilding #FRangeLove #Randoism #OneLove #GreenNewDeal #ThinkGlobalRecreateLocal

A post shared by Anchorage Avalanche Center (@anchorage_avalanche_center) on Dec 22, 2018 at 9:12pm PST