Magnum | Chugach Avalanche Center

Avalanche Details

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Trigger	Natural	Remote Trigger	Unknown
Avalanche Type	Dry Loose Snow	Aspect	North
Elevation	2500ft	Slope Angle	unknown
Crown Depth	unknown	Width	unknown
Vertical Run	unknown

Avalanche Details

Small natural loose snow avalanches (D1) on the north aspect of Cornbiscuit, fresh and likely including yesterday's snow.
Skier triggered D1 loose snow avalanches on the steeper slopes of Sunburst - not large but running a ways.
Lots of other runout visible below Sunnyside and North aspect of Cornbiscuit alike, but suspect this is from last weekend.

Weather & Snow Characteristics

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

Weather

Few clouds in the AM -> Clear!
Temps in the teens
Occasional light gusts of wind from the NE

Snow surface

4-6" of soft snow over a crust to 1300'; above that 6-8" of soft new snow from the end of the week. 2-4mm surface hoar on top, seemingly growing as the day progressed!

Snowpack

Dug a variety of hasty ECTs with shallow test depths (40-60cm) along the route to look at the new/old interface - slope angles all 20-30 degrees, on SW aspects - with the following results:

2300' - New snow was 25cm, Fist Hard -> 4 Finger
ECTN10 down 25cm on Buried Surface Hoar, sitting on 4f old snow

2500' - New snow was 30cm, Fist Hard -> 4 Finger +
(Slightly wind during the start of the storm... surface was very soft)
ECTP14 down 30cm on Buried Surface Hoar, sitting on 4f + old snow
(Propagation barely crossed block and was resistant)

2850' - New snow was 40cm, Fist Hard -> 4 Finger +
(Wind Loaded Location)
ECTP20 down 40cm on Buried Surface Hoar
(Propagation barely noticeable and resistant)

3250' - 50' shy of the ridge. New snow was 45cm, Fist Hard -> 4F +
(Wind loaded location)
ECTP14 down 45cm on Buried Surface Hoar - smaller at this elevation - on 1 finger old snow
(Propagation was fairly obvious but resistant in character)

Photos & Video

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