Avalanche: Chugach State Park

Location: South Fork Hiland Road

Date:

April 13, 2024 4:06pm

Observer:

Brad Meiklejohn

Route & General Observations

On west side of South Fork valley south of Swiss Bowl by 0.5 mi.

Avalanche Details

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Trigger	Natural	Remote Trigger	Unknown
Avalanche Type	Soft Slab	Aspect	Northeast
Elevation	3500ft	Slope Angle	36deg
Crown Depth	16in	Width	300ft
Vertical Run	1000ft

Avalanche Details

Wide soft slab with crown running nearly perpendicular downhill along south flank due to severe cross-loading.

Red Flags

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Obvious signs of instability

Recent Avalanches?	Yes
Collapsing (Whumphing)?	No
Cracking (Shooting cracks)?	No

Observer Comments

Other recent natural avalanches

Weather & Snow Characteristics

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Weather

Fair weather at the time of obs. Slide probably happened during storm/winds of 4/12.

Snow surface

Soft powder with obvious wind drift pattern in start zone.

Snowpack

Most likely running on prior sun crust surface with possible facets.

Photos & Video

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Location

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