Western Chugach, Chugach State Park, Rabbit Creek, West Ptarmigan

Several D1 wind slabs were triggered by ski cuts on the descent of Ptarmigan’s west face.  One very small wind slab that was ski cut at ~4750′ triggered a much larger (but still D1) wind slab at ~4400′.  Down valley winds pumping through the Suicide Peaks’ “Windy Gap” increased in the early afternoon at the upper elevations, and had increased further and reached trailhead elevation with widespread wind loading by 5pm.  Fresh wind slabs were very reactive to human triggers, overlying very weak layers of faceted snow and/or very low friction weak interfaces (ice crusts and boilerplate).

While surface conditions are variable and avalanche danger is expected to increase through the weekend with the potential for modest snow accumulations and further wind loading of leeward terrain, the good news is that snow coverage for backcountry travel by ski in the Rabbit Creek valley is relatively great for this time of year.