| Recent Avalanches? | No |
| Collapsing (Whumphing)? | Yes |
| Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | No |
Observation: Chugach State Park
Location: South Fork of Eagle River
Standard up track North Bowl to inspect early season conditions after two significant snow events.
Obvious signs of instability
Observer Comments
We heard several whumphs on our up track and felt collapsing underneath our skis when we were breaking trail.
Weather
Clear skies, no precip, no wind.
Snow surface
The snow surface was generally smooth, not loaded. We observed low-density snow at all elevations with patches of wind-affected snow along the ridge.
Snowpack
We dug one pit at 3,900 feet on the northeast aspect off of the skin track up to North Bowl on a 29 degree slope. Snow height was 110 cm. We found surface hoar at the surface with layers of buried surface hoar within the most recent snow event. The snow from the last snow event has not formed a cohesive slab. That being said, if the area gets hit with a significant amount of wind, the buried surface hoar layers could become layers of concern.
We conducted an extended column test and found propagation on the first melt-freeze facet crust combo beneath the last two significant storm events. Because of the whumping and the propagation in our snow pit test, we made the decision to ski the lower-angle terrain on the east aspect of the North Bowl.
Snow conditions during the descent were low-density, dry snow. We got some good turns in.
Trailhead snow conditions
Wind effected snow
View of North Fork of Eagle River mountains from skin track
North Fork of Eagle River
Surface hoar at pit location
Surface hoar on lower portion of standard skin track
Layers from the snowpit, with the layer of concern marked in red. 11.14.2023