Observation: Chugach State Park

Location: South Fork of Eagle River

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

With all the flat light, we decided to explore some tree runs above the footbridge. We also were interested in checking on the wind slab, and observing overall snowpack trends in that area.

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

9:30 am- overcast skies, no wind, no precip
12: 30 pm- overcast skies, light wind from the north, no precip
1:30 pm- overcast skies, no wind, 34F in the parking lot, and drizzling

Snow surface

The snow surface was a breakable wind slab for the majority of our tour. Patches of soft snow were found in the trees in wind-protected areas.

Snowpack

We dug two snowpits at the same elevation band right next to each other. Below is the information we gathered from both pits. We did not see any propagation in any of our pits.

Location: South Fork of Eagle River above footbridge
Elevation: 2,900'
Aspect: Northeast
Slope: 20 degrees
Tests: ECTN23 (6" down, on windslab and near-surface facet interface. Two melt-freeze facet crust combos (Thanksgiving crusts) were found 26" down from the snowsurface). We did observe a couple of inches of basal facets, which we did not see in our 12/19/23 pit in a similar location.

Photos & Video
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