| Trigger | Natural | Remote Trigger | Unknown |
| Avalanche Type | Hard Slab | Aspect | North |
| Elevation | 3500ft | Slope Angle | 35deg |
| Crown Depth | 24in | Width | 2000ft |
| Vertical Run | 800ft |
Avalanche: Chugach State Park
Location: South Fork Eagle Valley
Toured up Hanging Valley to the cirque at the valley head.
Avalanche Details
While touring up hanging valley we saw a D2.5 natural slide on the south side of the valley that appeared to have run sometime in the last week. The avalanche was about a half mile wide and the debris fan extended into the flats of the valley bottom. They crown looked to be about 1-3ft and it appears as though the slide failed down to the ground. We presume this slope harbors a shallow, cold snowpack and last week's snow/wind load perhaps overloaded the basal facets.
Observer Comments
No whumpfing or shooting cracks. Recent wet loose point releases were numerous on solar aspects.
Weather
Low valley clouds kept temperatures below freezing with minimal greenhouse effect until the afternoon.
Snow surface
Snow surface was crust everywhere except shaded north aspects, where we found ~6 inches dry snow. Crusts in hanging valley bottom were generally thin (less than 4 inches) and barely supportable with dry snow underneath.
Snowpack
Stopped to dig a pit in the moraine around 3500ft on a north aspect rollover. Found a surprisingly stable snowpack setup with HS ~190cm. Top 15cm was loose powder with 90cm+ 1F/3F consolidated snow underneath and no distinct weak layers of density changes. ECTX.
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