Observation: Seward

Location: Lost Lake

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

We snowmachined up the Fireman’s uptrack to check out snow conditions on Lost Lake. The uptrack was great with no icy sections. We dug a pit at 2100’, curious to see how stable the snowpack is. On our way we saw a few small wind slab avalanches and an old crown on Ascension.

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

The sky was clear with strong winds out of the north. These winds were actively depositing snow from the high ridges to where we were at 2100’. The temperature was 10 F at the parking lot.

Snow surface

The snow surface changed depending on where you were. Places protected from the wind were soft with surface hoar on top. In areas where the wind was blowing the surface had rippled wind deposits and sastrugi on the ridges.

Snowpack

The snow depth in our pit was around 4.5ft (150cm). Overall, the snowpack did not have any concerning instability results. We found surface hoar on top and a layer of decomposing crystals that produced an ECTN15 down 22cm.

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.