| Trigger | Natural | Remote Trigger | Unknown |
| Avalanche Type | Glide | Aspect | North Northwest |
| Elevation | 2500ft | Slope Angle | unknown |
| Crown Depth | unknown | Width | unknown |
| Vertical Run | unknown |
Avalanche: Chugach State Park
Location: Swiss/French Bowls
Several laps on east, north, and west aspects of Swiss and French Bowls
Avalanche Details
A large glide released to the east of Temptation Peak in the Ship Creek drainage at the tail end of last week's storm - see photos below.
Some additional cracks (~10) were present throughout South Fork and Ship Creek valleys that have yet to release.
Numerous small slabs (D1 - 1.5) that looked to be at the new/old snow interface released at the end of last week's storm, and were present on upper elevation, steep, south to west aspects. While all fairly high in elevation, some released well below ridgeline, particularly on the south aspect behind North Bowl. Ski tracks today just adjacent to these slides produced no new avalanches - see photo below.
Obvious signs of instability
| Recent Avalanches? | Yes |
| Collapsing (Whumphing)? | Yes |
| Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | Yes |
Observer Comments
One small whumph at ridgeline in a place where rocks had just been buried - ski pole probes revealed a lot of spatial variability at this location.
One instance of cracking directly below a small cornice, with cracks extending just ~10' and only a few inches deep. This was a location where you'd usually expect to find way worse of a result!
Weather
Temps in the teens... brrr in the shadows!
Varied sky cover, ranging from broken -> few clouds, changing throughout the day.
Occasional light north winds at ridgeline.
Snow surface
WOW - 18" of new snow from late last week, from trailhead elevation to near ridgelines. At ridges, slightly less new snow was present, but still 9+" of soft snow. No obvious wind transport or wind affect since this snow fell, with the exception of a slightly wind affected surface on a N ridge going up French Bowl. Ski penetration of 10-12" consistently across the route, with no observed sluffing even on steeper features despite the low density snow.
Snowpack
No formal tests. Below 2500' ski pole probing revealed a soft and right side up snowpack over a stout, unbreakable crust. An exception was between 2500' and 3200' on a north aspect in French Bowl, where ski pole probes could easily break through a thinner crust to a softer thin layer of facets (~2-4") sitting on a stout crust. Quick hand pits - dug with a ski pole as they were 50+cm deep! - over this crust/facet combo revealed no slab characteristic in the new snow above these facets.
Small slabs just to the south of North Bowl from the tail end of last week's storm. These slides were well - 300'+ in elevation - below ridgeline. The tracks from today produced no new slides or activity.
A recently released glide crack, as reported above.
Closeup of this glide avalanche.
Some minor wind affect on the surface, present on a North aspect of French Bowl.
Additional small slabs from the tail end of last week's storm, present on south to west aspects in the South Fork valley.
Additional small slabs from the tail end of last week's storm, present on south to west aspects in the South Fork valley.
Clouds were passing through for much of the day, but there was generally more blue than cloud!