| Recent Avalanches? | Yes |
| Collapsing (Whumphing)? | No |
| Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | No |
Observation: Summit
Location: Summit Lake - Japanese Trees
Followed the skin track off the west side of the Seward Highway by Summit Lake to about 2,200 feet, where we dug a pit before continuing upslope until the wind affect on the snow surface became more pronounced. Clear, sunny weather with pleasant temperatures.
Obvious signs of instability
Observer Comments
Evidence of recent avalanches along the Seward Highway corridor in the Summit area.
Weather
No new snow very recently, clear skies, comfortable temperatures (perhaps low 20s), little wind on this day.
Snow surface
Storm snow from a couple days earlier had set up a pleasant top layer for skiing, but pole probes off the skin track continually indicated a problem layer a foot or so down, with another harder, breakable layer below even that.
Snowpack
Pin location on the map indicates where we dug a pit. Snowpack at that location was about 130cm deep.
Test results: ECTN15, with initial failure 22cm below the surface on a softer weak layer. (Assuming that's under the snow that accumulated from last week's storm.) Continued taps yielded another failure 13 taps later on a slightly firmer layer 44cm below the surface of the snow.