Tenderfoot | Chugach Avalanche Center

Contact, Location & General Observations

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Forecaster Comments

*A poor foundation exists above 2000' in this area. It will be important to pay attention to changing weather and how much new snow Summit receives over the next week. The avalanche hazard could increase considerably with a load.

Red Flags

Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.

Observer Comments

Recent winds have moved loose snow around in upper elevations. Temps increased to above freezing at lower elevations. No other obvious signs observed.

Weather & Snow Characteristics

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

Weather

Temps increased from 21F at the road at 10:30am to 32F by 3:30pm
Winds were light from the East
Light flurries
Skies were broken in the morning becoming overcast in the afternoon

Snow surface

3-4" of loose settled snow below 2500'
Variable surfaces above 2500': soft sastrugi, 6-10" wind drifted snow, and wind exposed crust covering ground

Snowpack

Tenderfoot has a thin snowpack. Height of snow gradually increased with elevation from 6" in lower meadow to 15" in wind near ridgetop. Facets and crusts were consistent above 2000' into the alpine. Hand pits in wind loaded areas failed easily on facets. In more wind scoured areas along the wind swept ridge a melt-freeze crust was exposed and covers the ground evenly.

1400': 3-4" of settled loose snow on ground from Monday (12/3/18)
2000': Facets under a deteriorating melt freeze crust with 4" loose snow on surface (HS=8")
2500': Facet under a breakable melt freeze crust and soft wind slabs 4-8" thick (HS=10")
3000': HS = 15" A mix of facets and breakable melt freeze crusts. 2mm facets near the ground were chained and falling out of pit wall. See pit photo below. In this location there wasn't much of a slab to perform any tests, but there was a thin rime crust with graupel just below the surface.

Photos & Video

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