Avalanche: Chugach State Park

Location: Arctic Valley, Gordon Lion East Aspect (backside)

Date:

November 1, 2020 3:00pm

Observer:

Anonymous

Route & General Observations

Bluebird day, but windy from N or NNW on the ridge line, skied Tequila Bowl then poked around the backside looking for a line, did two ski cuts in couloir on east aspect, second one triggered a small soft slab avalanche below the cut which ran about 200 ft.

Avalanche Details

If this is an avalanche observation, click yes below and fill in the form as best as you can. If people were involved, please provide details.

Trigger	Skier	Remote Trigger	No
Avalanche Type	Soft Slab	Aspect	East
Elevation	4000ft	Slope Angle	unknown
Crown Depth	6in	Width	20ft
Vertical Run	200ft

Avalanche Details

A deliberate ski cut triggered a small soft slab avalanche on the east aspect of Gordon Lion.

Red Flags

Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.

Observer Comments

Recent/ongoing wind loading.

Weather & Snow Characteristics

Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.

Weather

No new snow, strong wind from N or NNW, sunny, temperature around 1˚F

Snow surface

Wind crust, sastrugi in places, powder and soft wind slabs in other areas.

Photos & Video

Please upload photos below. Maximum of 5 megabytes per image. Click here for help on resizing images. If you are having trouble uploading please email images separately to staff.

Approximate avalanche area.

Location

Click to Explore Location.