| Trigger | Skier | Remote Trigger | No |
| Avalanche Type | Soft Slab | Aspect | North |
| Elevation | 4700ft | Slope Angle | 50deg |
| Crown Depth | 9in | Width | 40ft |
| Vertical Run | unknown |
Avalanche: Chugach State Park
Location: The Ramp
Standard uptrack to the Ramp via Powerline Pass, headed to the first Ramp couloir just west of It’s summit. Pleasant and fast skinning through the fluffy new snow on Powerline before things started to get a little sharky and variable at 3700ft.
After the couloir, looped back around towards the ballfield and skied Falls Peak with more consistent conditions. “Dust on crust” was the story of the day.
Avalanche Details
The crown of the wind slab seemed to be anywhere from 8 to maybe a foot deep across the width of the couloir. It failed at my feet while skiing over a convex roller which had variable bed surface - firm at the top turning soft once getting into the steepest section of the run. The slab broke almost all they way across, the 3rd skier was able to break off the rest of the hangfire which resulted in the slab going further along the sides (see photo). Thin, firm and wind textured surface revealed itself.
The rest of the couloir had a more consistent and favorable bed surface than the top, thankfully. Once we got the valley bottom, we encountered some sharks, visible moss and small open streams. Seems like the last major wind event really did some damage in certain spots.
Observer Comments
Besides Ski Cuts, no formal stability tests were performed.
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