Local Observations

Date	Name	Location	New Snow	Winds	Sky/Clouds	Layers	Recent Avalanche Activity	Observations/Assessments
4/6/13	Erik Stevens	Takhin Ridge	0	light, northwest	7/8, light snow	Snowpack was rightside-up, skiing was good! Snow pit on a north aspect at 3000ft showed consistent CT24 to CT26 scores on the buried surface hoar layer 40cm down. Shears were all Q1.	Saw a D4 glide avalanche that had ripped out on a steep south aspect at around 2500ft. Glide cracks had developed on this slope two weeks prior. The slide took quite a bit of mud and earth with it.	Snowpack is turning spring-like, but is not solid yet.

Date	Name	Location	New Snow	Winds	Sky/Clouds	Layers	Recent Avalanche Activity	Observations/Assessments
3/17/2013	Erik Stevens	Four Winds Mt, Mosquito Lake area	4-8\" recent	light, N	clear	On east aspect at 3500ft, found dense (1F to pencil-hard) midpack mostly consolidated down to at least 1 meter. A couple of interfaces near the top existed, but were hard to trigger. Multiple compression tests had no failure. Shovel shear tests hard failed at around 35cm down, Q2. Stability quite good on this aspect.	none seen on nearby slopes	The problem was on the ridgeline, where the snowpack was <1m thick, with multiple thick faceted weak layers. Whumphing and collapsing was common on the ridge. Suspect the same is true on other aspects as well, anywhere the pack is thin and/or rocky. These thin areas could be trigger points for large slides.

Date	Name	Location	New Snow	Winds	Sky/Clouds	Layers	Recent Avalanche Activity	Observations/Assessments
March 13, 2013	wacker	Kashagnak to Chilly area	6-8\"	N 5-10	clear	near 15cms top layer with facet interface. 60cm density change, facets. 180cms rain crust with depth hoar below near rocks especially. CT 11 @ 60 cms Q2. Dug several pits on different aspects (N and West) and seems like the layer we found around 60 cms was the one to watch near town. Also top layers (15cm) in protected areas have buried surface hoar. 0 degrees F @ 5000ft	5000+ ft naturals N aspects.	Last week, looking at the snow pack are many naturals in the colder areas in upper elevation (5000-7000ft), on the true north aspects that have ripped out big. Not sure whats going on here but most of the slides seem to be propagating from rock outcrops on steeper aspects. Its a very shallow snow pack this year. Good skiing otherwise with no skier triggered slides.

Date	Name	Location	New Snow	Winds	Sky/Clouds	Layers	Recent Avalanche Activity	Observations/Assessments
3/3/2013	Jeffrey Moskowitz	near three guardsman peak; south facing	0	weak	clear	We noticed a weak layer when gaining a level ridge about 3,000 ft from the car. It was facets to the ground in some places a foot deep with a strong wind crust about 6 inches on top. We got a whumph on a SE slope below 25 degrees.	Upon descending from a high point and skiing a slightly different aspect with less wind affected snow and lapping that twice. We gained a high point where skier #1 noted to the other 3 skiers in the party that this was the cornice/crown? we had seen from the car. Skier #1 instructed the others to go skiers left down the ridge, avoiding the convexity. Skier #2 accelerated above skier #1 and caused a whumph where Skier # 3 and 4 were standing. At this point the collapse triggered a cornice fall which propagated an avalanche running to the ground in some areas with blocks the sizes of houses, or small apartment buildings. The debris ran about 1,500 ft and the crown was about 100 meters wide.	BE CAREFUL OF CORNICES!! Careful high-marking as well!! And be super cautious if you observe a weakness in the snowpack, because that means it\'s there! The weak layer and direct solar radiation was a perfect recipe for an avalanche of this size and character.

Date	Name	Location	New Snow	Winds	Sky/Clouds	Layers	Recent Avalanche Activity	Observations/Assessments
March 3	Jon Hirsh	Boarder			Clear	We skied 3 guardsmen, not digging a pit, very Non responsible.....in retrospect, we should of been more carefully.....we had no Avalanche , but we are reporting a very large one that was reported to us by the boarder patrol.......I am sure you have heard or know about this.......

Date	Name	Location	New Snow	Winds	Sky/Clouds	Layers	Recent Avalanche Activity	Observations/Assessments
3-3-13	Erik Stevens	Chilkat Pass, South of Three Guardsmen		light, variable	mostly clear	Major hollow and punchy snow on wind-affected aspects. Very weak and thick facet layers alternating with wind slabs and rime crusts all the way to the ground. Snowpack is still quite thin above treeline at the pass, generally less than 1 meter.	Our group remotely triggered a size D3.5 R4 slide. A whumph/collapse on the summit propagated downslope to a very large cornice, which then broke, tumbled down to an estimated 35-degree slope, and triggered the slab. The slide ran to the ground, with a crown over 1 meter thick in places. Also Observed widespread recent naturals on northerly aspects in the alpine. Wind-loaded slopes, mostly size D1 to D3. All ran within recent storm layers.	Felt more than a few whumphs - collapsing of weak layers (about 10 inches down) from our group\'s weight. Variability was high and other slopes were consolidated and nicely skiable.

Date	Name	Location	New Snow	Winds	Sky/Clouds	Layers	Recent Avalanche Activity	Observations/Assessments
feb 24	wacker	Teli-ridge	10cm?	5, light, West	overcast	CT 21 Q2 @ 40CM @ 5400ft, NE aspect. very cohesive snow pack from 40cm to 160cms. Various rain-crusts deep below 200cm. Good conditions in this area. Temp was 17F in the afternoon.	no naturals or skier triggered observed.	cooler temps and not much wind up high. gotta love haines.

Date	Name	Location	New Snow	Winds	Sky/Clouds	Layers	Recent Avalanche Activity	Observations/Assessments
12/21/2012	Jeff	3500ft				One pit test concluded CT 21 on a 30+ degree, north aspect slope at about 2,000ft. Problem layer ~2.5 ft down - sitting on facets. Moderate strength and sheer tests on intervals at about 7 in down were also noted.	Noticed a 2-3 ft crown at around 3,500 - 4,000 ft on a E-NE slope. Looked like an un-supportive slab that ran on a convexity over some rock outcroppings.	Possibly a result of wind-loading.

Date	Name	Location	New Snow	Winds	Sky/Clouds	Layers	Recent Avalanche Activity	Observations/Assessments
1/7/2013	Erik Stevens	Northeast aspects of Ripinksy above Lutak Inlet	about 6\"	light to moderate out of the south at treeline	snowing	Snowpack was rightside-up in the top meter. Pole probes in many areas showed the same strong layering, dense and compact with little change in density except soft on top. The exception was around 2000ft where a hard frozen rain crust about 4-inches down was noticeable. Some indication of a weak storm layer above this crust.	no visibility	Skiing is still good above 1200ft!

Date	Name	Location	New Snow	Winds	Sky/Clouds	Layers	Recent Avalanche Activity	Observations/Assessments
1/4/2013	motherlova				cloudy	Snow is good. Bed layer is icy. Roads are in poor condition. Life is Good!

Date	Name	Location	New Snow	Winds	Sky/Clouds	Layers	Recent Avalanche Activity	Observations/Assessments
12/31/12		Haines, Alaska	0	unknown	n/a	Lots of Ice!!!		It\'s warm and wet!

Date	Name	Location	New Snow	Winds	Sky/Clouds	Layers	Recent Avalanche Activity	Observations/Assessments
11/4/12	Erik Stevens	Chilkat Range		calm	overcast		Saw crown from a large natural slide on the main bowl/face of the Witches Tit. ENE aspect, 4900ft. The crown was 200 meters wide (wall to wall, the whole bowl) and appeared quite deep (1-2m ?). Probably ran the night of Nov. 3rd. Photo: Click Here	Worried about basal facets that may have formed during October\'s cold dry weather. This slide looks to have run on this deep layer of very weak snow.

Date	Name	Location	New Snow	Winds	Sky/Clouds	Layers	Recent Avalanche Activity	Observations/Assessments
10/7/12	Erik Stevens	Takhin Ridge					Observed a crown (about 1m deep) in new snow from a week ago. Northeast aspect, 1450m. Slide was 200m wide, and ran 600m vertical. Size 3.5. Slope angle approx. 40 degrees