Avalanche: Chugach State Park

Location: South Fork Eagle Valley

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Toured up Hanging Valley to the cirque at the valley head.

Avalanche Details
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Trigger NaturalRemote Trigger Unknown
Avalanche Type Hard SlabAspect North
Elevation 3500ftSlope Angle 35deg
Crown Depth 24inWidth 2000ft
Vertical Run 800ft  
Avalanche Details

While touring up hanging valley we saw a D2.5 natural slide on the south side of the valley that appeared to have run sometime in the last week. The avalanche was about a half mile wide and the debris fan extended into the flats of the valley bottom. They crown looked to be about 1-3ft and it appears as though the slide failed down to the ground. We presume this slope harbors a shallow, cold snowpack and last week's snow/wind load perhaps overloaded the basal facets.

Red Flags
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Observer Comments

No whumpfing or shooting cracks. Recent wet loose point releases were numerous on solar aspects.

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

Low valley clouds kept temperatures below freezing with minimal greenhouse effect until the afternoon.

Snow surface

Snow surface was crust everywhere except shaded north aspects, where we found ~6 inches dry snow. Crusts in hanging valley bottom were generally thin (less than 4 inches) and barely supportable with dry snow underneath.

Snowpack

Stopped to dig a pit in the moraine around 3500ft on a north aspect rollover. Found a surprisingly stable snowpack setup with HS ~190cm. Top 15cm was loose powder with 90cm+ 1F/3F consolidated snow underneath and no distinct weak layers of density changes. ECTX.

Photos & Video
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