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The weather is deteriorating and #avalanche danger increasing in the Western #Chugach #Mountains of #ChugachStatePark. Sensitive wind slabs have already developed in the upper elevations from bouts of moderate to strong wind in recent days. Today, this small wind slab was human triggered on a cross loaded couloir apron on a north aspect at ~5500’. It behaved like a hard slab, breaking well above the trigger point, and is an indicator of how poorly wind slabs (that are expected to continue to develop from strong winds through the weekend) will bond to the very firm (i.e. “slide-for-life”) windpacked layer formed by the New Year’s wind event. While the old snow surface formed by New Year’s strong winds is a relatively slick and low friction interface itself, it has a very weak layer of faceted #snow from the extended high pressure (clear and cold weather) we had for over week on top of it in many areas. Expect strong winds to continue to increase avalanche danger through at least the weekend. It will be important to be mindful of avalanche danger above you in the near future, even if you’re on flat or low angle terrain. Make sure you know how to identify avalanche terrain and potentially dangerous avalanche paths if you’re out recreating in the mountains. Several popular mountain trails near #Anchorage cross potentially dangerous avalanche paths (e.g. Powerline from Glen Alps, Falls Creek on #TurnagainArm). Natural avalanches will be possible on Sunday.

A post shared by Anchorage Avalanche Center (@anchorage_avalanche_center) on Jan 12, 2019 at 4:56pm PST