All Observations

Forecast Center Observation

Date2022-04-23
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverMDS
AvalancheN

General Observations

toured and skied the McCallum basin over the weekend and noticed wet slides, cornice falls, and a couple of wind slabs that had let loose. the skiing was good for the most part but there were definitely some areas that were heavily wind affected. there were no shooting cracks, whumping, or any other instabilities that…

 
Date2022-04-10
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverMDS
AvalancheN

General Observations

skied the ridge between Trims and Micheal creek and noticed a little bit of wind slabs that were not reactive at all. no pits were dug but there were no signs of instability and no cracking or whumfing of any kind. also no recent slides were noticed once on the ridge above trims creek.

 
Date2022-03-12
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDavid Hickle
AvalancheN

General Observations

Sledded up McCallum Creek, then skiied out of the drainage up one of the side bowls.  Several feet of powder in the drainage, on the plateau and in the bowl.  Some slides observed on N facing slopes, none on S facing slopes.  Snow pit revealed a right side up snowpack for 2-3' to a knife…

 
Date2022-03-26
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDavid Hickle
AvalancheN

General Observations

Sledded up McCallum Creek then skiied up towards McCallum Peak.  Went up a bowl across the valley from McCallum Creek and skiied a few laps.  S facing aspects had a ~2-6" sun crust, N facing aspects were mostly ~ 12" of powder on top of a right side up snowpack.  No instabilities noted, no fresh…

 
Date2022-03-27
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverFrank Olive
AvalancheN

General Observations

The north/northwest aspects down lower on the Castner Glacier are still holding 20-30cm of snow from the 3/6 and 3/11 storms that has not been wind affected.  We were a large group who did multiple pits on N/NW aspects and almost all the pits showed similar CT and ECT results. Almost all the test showed…

 
Date2022-03-26
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPhillip Raymond Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

The snow is heavily wind effected along the road, especially on the northern side of the range with warm chinook winds starting last night at the Black Rapids Lodge and melting a surprising amount of snow. I still saw lots of wind protected snow further up the Canwell Valley, but low southern aspects are starting…

 
Date2022-03-23
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPhillip Raymond Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

6-8 inches of several day old, moderately wind effected powder in the Castner valley floor, along with multiple hard-packed trails to the cave. Further up the valley, away from the road, and on Rum Doodle it looked like it has stayed wind free. 

 
Date2022-03-19
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPhillip Raymond Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

It's been snowing 2-3 inches every day for the last few days, with no wind along the road. Surface conditions in and around the Canwell Glacier Valley is low density powder. 8-10" ski penetration and as of this afternoon was still totally untouched by the wind! I didn't dig a snowpit or do any snowpack…

 
Date2022-03-15
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Spent the last week in the College Glacier area. At the beginning of our time there (03/07/2022), snow was very firm and very wind effected. Got camp set up and then weathered the 3 day storm that dumped 47cm of fresh, dry, powder from 03/09 through 03/11. No wind to speak of in this valley…

 
Date2022-03-15
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPhillip Raymond Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

The predominant wind has been out of the north the last few days, which is slightly unusual for this area. The snow down on the Delta River is drifting, but hasn't been blown away completely. I noticed several natural avalanches along the road corridor south of Miller Creek and at the south end of Rainbow…

 
Date2022-03-11
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPhillip Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

The recent storm accumulated ~10" of low density powder at the Black Rapids Lodge, with several more inches as you head further south. This storm also seems to have had little wind, almost no scouring/drifting at the road yet.  Photo is from today at the Castner Glacier. 

 
Date2022-03-07
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverRyan Tansey
AvalancheN

General Observations

Climbed and skied the north face of Minya peak on 3/7. The entire face was wind board and not particularly skiable. We picked our way down the north face after abandoning our plan to ski the south face due to similar looking snow conditions and an unknown crevasse situation at the bottom. Some protected south…

 
Date2022-03-08
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPhillip Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

The snow has buried alot of the alders on the hillside across from the Trims DOT camp, enough that bushwhacking is entirely avoidable. We stayed in the trees and found 6-8in of low angle wind protected powder, it looked wind affected above treeline.  There were some small 1-3" windslabs isolated on north-west facing convexities which…

 
Date2022-03-05
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverSean Marble
AvalancheN

General Observations

Out on the Castner Glacier with the Alaska Alpine Club before heading up to Triangle Peak. Saturday was stormy and gusty, Sunday and Monday were beautiful bluebird days. There was 10-20cm of powder everywhere that didn’t seem to be too wind affected. We dug 3 pits this weekend.  Pit 1: about 2 miles up the…

 
Date2022-03-03
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJonathan Koenig
AvalancheN

General Observations

Took snowmachines up the Little Gerstle river to the glacier on the north side of Mt Hadjukavich. Found extreme wind affect and icy conditions above 7500’ on Hadjukavich. Skied a southeast facing couloir on peak 8307 and found some decent snow and stable conditions. Overall good adventure but very thin snow conditions up high.  

 
Date2022-02-27
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverHazel Probst
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skinned out with the UAF mountaineering class group of 11 to the Canwell Glacier Terminus via Miller Creek. Dug a pit on a slope of approximately 31 degrees and as we were digging heard a whumph. Continued our stratification tests and found powdery snow on top of a denser slab layer on another soft layer…

 
Date2022-02-20
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverNathan Fogell
AvalancheN

General Observations

Broke trail for 5 miles up the Castner Glacier to the base of Rum Doodle. Snow on the glacier was 6-12 inches of powder with a crust under that, with powder and depth hoar facets under that of varying depth.   We saw multiple recent avalanches on North Facing slopes as we went up the…

 
Date2022-02-20
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverHank Statscewich
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skied up into the upper Look Eyrie Basin today. All of the new snow made trail breaking quite arduous. Crossed debris from at least 3 major slides in the Red Rock Canyon. Dug a pit at about 5,500' near top of the glacier lookers right of the Eyrie. Submerged my 240 cm probe, then dug…

 
Date2022-02-19
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverKelsey Stockert
AvalancheN

General Observations

Ski toured from Richardson Monument towards Gulkhana Glacier, intending to maybe ski the first mountain after phelan creek. When we were still in the flats just past Isabell Knoll, we felt and heard a loud whumph. At this time, we saw "Avalanche 1" release (map attached below), which was about 0.5 miles away from us.…

 
Date2022-02-10
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames D Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

While in the area, dug a quick pit near McCallum Creek Road to see how things looked in this zone. Found about 1 - 1.5 meters of snow generally and mostly soft powder and depth hoar (i.e. you will be waist deep off your skis or sled, at least down at road level). Pit dig…

 
Date2022-02-10
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames D Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skinned up Devils Thumb trail just to see what the snow was doing after the recent snow and wind cycle. Found lots of deep, beautiful powder below treeline, generally 1 meter deep or more. Some isolated whumping as you get higher into the slightly more wind effected open woodlands above 3000ft. Dug a pit around…

 
Date2022-01-30
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverClyde Hewitt
AvalancheN

General Observations

Myself and a large group (15) rode snowmobiles from the Richardson Monument to the bottom of the glacial cirque directly East of College glacier, "No Name" glacier some call it.  On the way up the valley where the Arctic Man race finish line used to be, we noticed lots of shooting cracks and settling snow…

 
Date2022-01-29
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Great day of skiing had on Isabell Knoll! Despite forecasted high winds through the pass, our party of three decided to try to find any lingering stashes of powder from the past week's storms. As predicted, the wind was fierce from Trims Camp south through the pass. Our hopes of avoiding skiing in a ground…

 
Date2022-01-17
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverMDS
AvalancheN

General Observations

Toured up red rock canyon road back to rainbow basin and heard quite a few whumfs and set off a wind slab on a SW facing slope. Decent amount of new snow but the wind has definitely moved it around a bit. 

 
Date2021-12-22
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Went to stretch the legs up Lower Miller Creek. Not much in the way of good snow, everything has been blown around real good. Hard windslabs on most slopes, lots of shooting cracks and whumphing all around.  Creek was manageable, some open water sections but nothing bad. Cool ice cave at the toe of the…

 
Date2021-12-11
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverAlly
AvalancheN

General Observations

Avalanche conditions continue to be high across all aspects. The most current snowfall has added between 12-36" on top of the previous unstable layer depending on elevation and wind loading. High winds have created wind slabs in most areas. We did not see any evidence of natural slides or avalanches, but did trigger a single…

 
Date2021-12-05
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverAlly
AvalancheN

General Observations

Followed the typical route from the Richardson Monument parking area to the main riding area at Summit. Visibility was poor so after reaching the first plateau we went back down to lower country. We observed wind loading on north and NW aspects that created an extremely unstable slab between 8-12" thick. This resulted in at…

 
Date2021-11-11
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDavid Hickle
AvalancheN

General Observations

Party of 4 skinned up the Canwell Glacier to the Lower Canwell Hut.  Decent powder conditions on the S side of the glacier, progressing to wind affected snow on the N side with numerous "whumphs" and shooting cracks.  1st person traveling up the slope to the hut triggered a medium size avalanche on a S/SW…

 
Date2021-11-14
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Went for a quick tour and gear shake down up the Devil's Thumb trail. About 12 to 14 inches at road level, and closer to 20 to 24 inches of soft fluffy pow in the forest at the first bench. Still very much a thrash through the brush until we get some more snow. Didn't…

 
Date2021-10-10
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJerry Lee Sadler
AvalancheN

General Observations

5800 FT SE Facing Slope - “The Tit” 38 cm total snow depth No noticeable layers.  No reaction on column test. Crushed. Fist Hand Hardness all the way through. No ground facets, solid base adhesion. Did not notice any new cracks on No Name Glacier    

 
Date2021-10-10
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverNathan Fogell
AvalancheN

General Observations

Rainbow Peak climb attempt. observation 1: test pit: 5,074ft South facing CTN (no fracture)   32 degree slope, 65cm snow depth, ~63cm knife hard wind slab with facets forming on Rocky bed surface. Observation 2: 6,650ft 40 degree slope, ~ 66cm snow depth, full depth knife hard wind slab. Facets on Rocky bed surface. stepped forward…

 
Date2021-04-24
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDavid Hickle
AvalancheN

General Observations

Our group of 3 snowmachined from the Richardson Monument to the Gulkana Bridge, parked the sleds there and skinned to the west up and over the ridgeline into the McCallum Creek bowls.  We dug a pit around 5800' on a N facing slope and found a ~ 12" pencil hard slab on top of ~…

 
Date2021-04-10
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDavid Hickle
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skiied up Trims Creek to the cirque with a party of four.  Observed natural slides on W facing aspects, whumphing on N facing aspects and a 8" windslab on top of 6" of facets on top of a 2nd buried slab on S facing aspects.  The top windslab failed at CT 1, did not bother…

 
Date2021-04-03
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverZach S
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skied Up McCallum Creek on approach to Institute. Pit dug on south aspect Saturday indicated powdery stable active layer on top of over a meter of hard stable snowpack. Pit dug Sunday morning after 6 inches of overnight snow accumulation indicated that new snowpack was unstable, whiteout conditions forced us to descend down from the…

 
Date2021-03-28
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames D Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Lower Canwell Glacier Area. Beautiful bluebird day. Zero powder to be found, just wind blasted rough snow. Ridges are blown clear of snow in many places with rocks poking through. Evidence of many small sized and thin wind slabs releasing all around the valley. Some whumphing in the flats.

 
Date2021-03-13
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDavid Hickle
AvalancheN

General Observations

Group of 3 snowmachined from the MM 191 parking lot E into the large E-W oriented valley.  W facing aspects were heavily wind affected, NW facing slopes were wind scoured.  No whumphing, recent avy's or shooting cracks observed.  

 
Date2021-03-10
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Dumping snow today. As of 6pm, about 6-8 inches of new snow has fallen so far near Miller Creek. Winds started out moderate from the south in the morning, and switched to strong from the north in the afternoon. Snow seemed warm, had big snowballs forming on our skins.  Lots of whumphing and shooting cracks…

 
Date2021-03-06
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverTheodore Alder
AvalancheN

General Observations

Crossed the Delta and skinned up the 1st drainage north of the Black Rapids Glacier. went as far as the 2 converging morraines where the valley splits. not a lot of snow and no snow worth trying to ski. saw 1 old, small point release avalanche on north facing slope. 

 
Date2021-03-09
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Sketchy snow! Skiied into the lower Canwell Glacier area. Dug a pit on a SW facing, 42 degree slope. Extensive whumphing in flats and on slope. Shooting cracks. At kick turns in the skin track, top layer of snow (20cm) came popping off every time. The snow from a week ago is being blown all…

 
Date2021-03-06
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDavid Hickle
AvalancheN

General Observations

Our group of 4 parked on the Richardson highway at the McCallum Creek road, skinned up the gravel road towards the cell tower and then headed N up the obvious peak E of the cell tower.  We observed quite a few slides on S & SW facing slopes (looked to be 3-5 days old) as…

 
Date2021-02-27
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverKyle Sobek & AIARE 1 Class
AvalancheN

General Observations

Riding out of Maclaren Lodge- Handle bar deep snow on Saturday. In the valley there was about 2-3 feet of fresh powder that had fallen over the last week, with 3+ feet of sugar under the fresh powder. Incredibly touchy conditions. We remote triggered at least 2 smaller avalanches, and had shooting cracks all over…

 
Date2021-02-27
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Driving through the range and decided to stop and dig a quick pit to see how the new snow is adding to the existing snowpack. A short climb up Army Hill, just south of Rainbow Ridge. Localized whumphing. Some small point releases noted on steeper slopes; these were shallow and likely the recent new storm…

 
Date2021-02-27
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverKelsey Stockert
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skied Devil's Thumb, up and down the southwest face. While skinning,  heard and felt whoomphing regularly. Stayed on slopes < 30 degrees. Saw some R1 dry loose avalanches on steep terrain (>40).  Dug two pits, one in trees (150 cm snowpack - no results) and one at about 4000'. For the pit above treeline, CT25…

 
Date2021-02-22
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverGrant Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

Total snow depth: 70cm Snow profile: 1-2cm faceted layer 2-35cm unconsolidated “first seasons snow” 35cm-55cm hard “pencil” wind slab 55cm-70cm recent storm snow We dug our pit on a 25 degree slope, below a small ridge that split two gully’s which we intended to ski. It was obvious there was loading in the gullys, which…

 
Date2021-02-21
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverSean Marble
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skinned up McCallum creek this weekend. Down low there was lots of powder and an isolated weak layer. The weak layer was 2-8 inches down and seemed to be located on south facing leeward slopes. Whumphing was noted with propagating fractures in the snow. Other aspects displayed no warning signs. Avalanche debris from a couple…

 
Date2021-01-24
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPeter Winsor
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skinned up a drainage from the road at southern Rainbow mountain. Found a well bounded, stable snow layer with a total snow depth of 160 cm, about 1/3 up a chute at 36 degrees angle, the chute varied between 36-44 degrees overall. Dug a pit and did an ECT that did not collapse or propagate.…

 
Date2021-01-24
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPeter Winsor
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skinned up a drainage from the road at southern Rainbow mountain. Found a well bounded, stable snow layer with a total snow depth of 160 cm, about 1/3 up a chute at 36 degrees angle, the chute varied between 36-44 degrees overall. Dug a pit and did an ECT that did not collapse or propagate.…

 
Date2021-01-18
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Once again, we found fun and playful snow conditions in the Devils Thumb Trees over the weekend. Even with our recent lack of new snow, the howling winds, and the warm temps, the trees are still holding on to the soft and fun powder. The trail up the first step is in decent shape (head in…

 
Date2020-12-13
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDavid Hickle
AvalancheN

General Observations

We sledded in from the Richardson Monument towards the Gulkana Glacier.  Our goal was to snowmachine to the toe then ski up to the USGS hut, but we ran out of snow halfway between the suspension bridge and the glacier.  We skinned up the glacier about a mile short of the USGS hut then ran…

 
Date2020-12-13
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverRyan Tansey
AvalancheN

General Observations

Took a snow machine up red rock canyon road and skied on the Rainbow Glacier.  Approximately 27 F on the glacier.  The snow was a breakable wind slab on top of deep facets. We dug one pit in a wind loaded slope in the process of digging out our snow machine.  No freeze crust, however…

 
Date2020-12-12
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPhillip Raymond Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skied about halfway up Michael Creek. There are still lots of open holes, and we made a few new holes, but there is also deep drifted snow in the creek bed so travel was pretty easy with minimal bushwhacking. Peaks and ridges right along the Delta River valley are rather wind hammered, but it looks…

 
Date2020-12-06
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Went down to the Range on Sunday, Dec 6th. We were expecting thin snow with a hard crust after the week of strong wind and warm temps we just endured. From the road, it was clear that most alpine and exposed areas were blown clear of snow and that it was going to be tough…

 
Date2020-10-25
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Went for a hike before the forecasted winter storm rolled in on Sunday up Fossil Creek to the south of Rainbow Ridge. At road level, only about 2 inches of snow and evidence of snow being blown around by the gap winds that whipped the area Friday and Saturday (Oct 23-24). Higher up (~4500ft) we…

 
Date2020-05-22
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDavid Hickle
AvalancheN

General Observations

Garrett Hallett and I had a fun day in the McCallum Creek area catching the last of the spring corn.  The snow was slush up to ~ 4300' at 9 AM, then hardened above 4300' on north-facing slopes.  South-facing slopes haven't refrozen in a few days and were thawing to a depth of 2-3', north-facing…

 
Date2020-03-15
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverRyan Tansey
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skinned about 4 miles up Fossil Creek south of Rainbow Ridge on 3/15.  Temperature around 15 degrees, little to no wind.  We observed evidence of heavy wind loading on southeast facing slopes at most elevations; as a result, many large cornices have formed on those aspects (one example included in the below photo).   However,…

 
Date2020-02-26
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverInaugural Maclaren Lodge Avy 1
AvalancheN

General Observations

During our first ride day of our snowmachine based avalanche 1 class at Maclaren Lodge we rode to the Cotton Drainage near the Maclaren Glacier. About 2 inches of fresh snow had fallen overnight at the lodge. We observed several natural avalanches on wind loaded terrain steeper than 35 degrees. These avalanches were D1 in size and consisted of the…

 
Date2020-02-22
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverNick Janssen
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skied up red rock canyon road to rainbow basin. Climbed the pass to the ridge and to the summit of McCallum peak. Seemingly good, stable powder at all elevations on the north side of the pass. No whumfing in our 16 miles of traveling and no signs of recent slides. Possible shooting crack observed at around…

 
Date2020-02-10
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverTaylor Bracher
AvalancheN

General Observations

Cantwell received 12-18" of new snow over the weekend, followed by strong and steady winds Sunday night and Monday. We saw flagging on peaks all around the area on Monday and heard lots of whoomphing under our feet even in the flats. 

 
Date2020-02-02
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPhillip Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skied from the highway about 8 miles up the Black Rapids Glacier. Crossing the Delta river was easy by avoiding the obvious holes, there was lots of sneaky overflow further up Black Rapids creek. Temps were above 0, very strong wind out of the south was quickly eroding the soft snow along the valley floor and leaving…

 
Date2020-01-19
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverClaire Woster
AvalancheN

General Observations

McCallum Creek : Windblown AFSW aspect @ 3800' elevationSnow depth @200 CMECT- X -- Consistent snowpack throughout--Snow Hardness: 4Finger first 30CM, 1Finger next 70CM or so, Pencil/knife at the bottom, with about 10CM of depth hoar at the base. 

 
Date2020-01-05
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverRyan Tansey
AvalancheN

General Observations

This is a somewhat unorthodox post, but I felt like everyone should be aware of this.  Wife and I were out skiing towards the Castner Glacier today and saw two grizzly bears on the moraine above the first ice cave.  Didn't notice them until we were about 50-100 yards away, so we got a very good look (although…

 
Date2019-12-18
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames Pyke
AvalancheN

General Observations

We climbed and skied from above the Devil's Thumb on 12/18/19. We dug a pit at around 3500' on a SW aspect on the ascent. The snowpack was 115cm deep and had two finger progressing to one finger density to the ground. A column test resulted in no failures (CTN). I pried the column off the…

 
Date2019-12-15
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverClaire Woster
AvalancheN

General Observations

Castner Glacier Obs:Melt/freeze crust till around 2100 feetDug a pit @ 3200' South facing aspect200 cm snow depth,Small wind layer on top.CT 18 @ 15cmECT @ 25, no full propagation (~34 of the way across).Hand-test: 2 finger to 30 cm, 1 finger to 120cm, pencil hard @ lower depthsDug another pit @ SW aspect 3800'Similar…

 
Date2019-12-08
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDavid Hickle
AvalancheN

General Observations

Our group of two skinned/booted most of the way up Canwell Peak today and skied the north face.  At lower elevations, there is a significant melt/freeze crust on the surface, up higher (~ 3200', N aspect), this transitioned to a melt/freeze crust with significant wind effects.  We dug a pit around 4000' on the north…

 
Date2019-11-25
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverCharlie Bohart
AvalancheN

General Observations

Left the Rich at mile post 213.5 traveling along a trap line trail/gravel road with skis and skins to the base of a north facing slope strike 290 dip 35. I dug a simple column test pit, melt crust layers at 1 foot and at 2.5 feet, total depth about 4 feet with a foot…

 
Date2019-12-02
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDoes this work?
AvalancheN

General Observations

Yo yo yo

 
Date2019-11-09
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverMCS
AvalancheN

General Observations

Party of two skied "Dood" Ridge via the pipeline. Skied ~30-degree slope just north of the pipeline. The snow was slow but great weather!Weather: Blue bird day, low teens, gentle breeze from S/SETwo test pits were dug at 3,300 ft approximately 750 ft apart. A "creme brulee" crust was noted at the bottom of the…

 
Date2019-11-03
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skied up to the top of "Dood" Ridge (just north of Dude Lake on the west side of Phelan Creek). Down at creek level there was evidence of the warming from the previous week including a 2-3cm melt-freeze crust, percolation channels and runnels. As we climbed, the crust gradually disappeared and we found good semi-soft powder of variable…

 
Date2019-11-02
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverKatie Franciosi, Mary Webb, Cam O’Neill, Frederico, Julia, Audry Freeman, Riley
AvalancheN

General Observations

Bad visibility. A group of 7 hiked in from the McCallum Creek road and dug a pit at 4700ft on a 40 degree south facing slope. The test showed a snow depth of 85.5 cm, there was about 15cm of new wet powder on top and 30cms down there was a weak layer of wind crust. Our tap test broke on 11 at the first…

 
Date2019-10-27
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverSean Marble
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skinned up around Rainbow ridge a bit. A big wind event was forecasted for the area, and it was definitely howling on the north side of the mountains, but rainbow ridge was surprisingly calm. Skiing up the creek gully to the west of the ridge, we did notice the top 3-4 inches had a tendency to slide…

 
Date2019-10-20
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverMark Oldmixon
AvalancheN

General Observations

Took a snow machine in Red Rock Canyon Road and up the Canwell Glacier moraine/mine road. No evidence of new snow of winds since the last group a week before. Their tracks were still quite crisp. We stopped a mile in on the mine road and skinned from there. We saw no red flags, despite…

 
Date2019-10-13
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverChris Hall
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skinned up the road that parallels McCallum Creek and headed up to the peak North of the road ( I don't know the name)  through a large drainage. Observed variable conditions and snow depths while skinning, a little punchy and thin at times. Wind has affected the snow and there was a loose layer on top varying from…

 
Date2019-10-13
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPhillip Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skied up to the new weather station, and confirmed the snow reading was correct, over 64 inches of snow has already accumulated at 5000ft! The snow had been heavily affected by wind out of the north, but southern wind protected faces had pockets of deep soft snow. We saw several small avalanches on the steepest of these southern faces,…

 
Date2019-10-06
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverMark Oldmixon
AvalancheN

General Observations

Couldn't resist checking out the conditions this weekend after the weather station was reporting good snow levels. We drove through Red Rock Canyon and started skinning up from there. There was enough snow on the road that we regretted not bringing sleds. Rather than take the road all the way to Look Eryie, we followed…

 
Date2019-10-05
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverSam K
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skied into Rainbow Basin via Red Rock Canyon Road. Approximately 6" of fresh snow covered terrain at lower elevations. Remnants of natural sluff avalanches were observed on some eastern aspects. Open crevasses and bergschrunds were observed on all glaciated surfaces. Partly elected to ski a moderate face on a SE aspect along the main easterly…

 
Date2019-09-28
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverTaylor B
AvalancheN

General Observations

Ski toured up the Gulkana Glacier where we managed to ski nice snow off of a 6,???ft peak due east of Cony Peak and turned back just below the east facing summit dome of Cony Peak due to reactive wind slab. No snow until about 4,500ft on the glacier with the snow depth quickly increasing to 50cm…

 
Date2019-09-28
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverF Covi
AvalancheN

General Observations

Hiked up the Castner-Fels Divide on Saturday morning. Snow line in the are is at about 3500 ft (just above tree line). Above 4500 ft snow depth is about 20 cm and snow cover is pretty homogeneous. Wind already started affecting the snow pack in isolated pocket. A wind advisory was emitted for the night between…

 
Date2019-04-28
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverShelby
AvalancheN

General Observations

Let the spring skiing commence! May 4th at Skiland was warm but surprisingly not sloppy. Pretty good coverage on the upper mountain, but definitely starting to thin out quite a bit. The snow was decent on the center run (with the terrain park on it) but quickly got dust on crusty the further away from center line you…

 
Date2019-05-04
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverShelby
AvalancheN

General Observations

 
Date2019-05-05
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverLea H
AvalancheN

General Observations

Booted part way up one of the chutes on Rainbow Ridge from the road. Turned around after approx. 900m vert because of rock fall, avalanche debris in intended line and overall uninspiring snow conditions. Snow situation here (West facing, ~2700-5700ft elevation) can be summarized as refrozen melt-freeze crust on wet/damp facets. Crust became mostly supportive to boot packing above ~4000ft but…

 
Date2019-04-28
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverLea H
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skinned up Gulkana West/W Phelan Creek from Arctic Man parking lot. Experienced frequent settling from ~4100ft onwards, all the way up the valley and onto the lower section of the glacier. Pit at ~4300ft on SW aspect, ~20°,showed starting from top: small amount of rounded grains (guessing recently wind deposited), melt crust, rounded grains, facets…

 
Date2019-04-27
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverRyan T
AvalancheN

General Observations

Flew into the Susitna glacier on 4/26 and spent the weekend skiing some lines on the surrounding mountains.  In short, the pack on northern and northeastern aspects was extremely stable.  We saw no slides and our pit showed a cohesive slab with low density snow on top of higher density (pic below); we also did not find buried depth hoar (at least to the…

 
Date2019-04-28
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverKeane Richards
AvalancheN

General Observations

Silvertip attempt with Alpine Club. Crystal clear, breezy the whole time. Fresh powder (maybe 6 inches) up Michael Creek to the camp at the headwall. No avalanche activity visible other than some wet slides on the sides of Michael Creek and cornice blocks falling from ridges. Dug two pits on SW and NE aspects, but…

 
Date2019-04-20
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDavid Hickle
AvalancheN

General Observations

Hi all - skiied 10-15 miles south of Cantwell today, there has been quite a bit of temps above freezing which resulted in a layer of ice ~ 6" under the latest snow throughout.  This crust would support 220 lbs standing in ski boots and we couldn't penetrate it with a ski pole.  Observed three…

 
Date2019-04-14
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverSam Kendall
AvalancheN

General Observations

Party skinned to the end of the Fels Glacier for an overnight. Observed old wet slabs on the northern aspects of the lower Miller Creek canyon. Multiple wet point releases observed on both southerly and northerly aspects of faces traveling on the glacier. Observed multiple small serac falls on northerly aspects in the late afternoon. 

 
Date2019-04-14
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverKeane Richards
AvalancheN

General Observations

Snow pit / general condition report from Castner Glacier up to 4.5 miles in (Rum Doodle approach). 04-13: Skijored in to Rum Doodle approach, nice fluffy new snow (about 5 inches), very warm and sunny after evening prior of wind near Black Rapids. Some small avalanches on N aspects of steeper slopes, seemed to reach only…

 
Date2019-04-13
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverBrons Gerrish
AvalancheN

General Observations

Observation from the N-NW side of Canwell Peak, same trip as Tristan Sayre. On pit examination there is a cohesive, dense right side up layer between 2-4 ft deep resting on depth hoar melt refreeze crust combo. In our pit we failed both compression and propagation tests at 22 and 21. The propagation was clean and the surface was…

 
Date2019-04-13
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverTristan Sayre
AvalancheN

General Observations

Deltas provided for a great day of skiing! Went up north side of Mt. Canwell which had 2"-10" fresh snow from the previous night's storm on top of a crust. Dug a pit at around 4500' on a NW aspect with an ECPX and CT20 result. Found a large cohesive layer about 3-4 feet deep on top of depth hoar. Failure…

 
Date2019-04-07
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverSean Marble
AvalancheN

General Observations

Went split boarding on the north side of Rainbow Ridge. We started a little before noon, and everything was still kind of icy and crusty. Made it to the ridge around 4, and by that time the sun had softened the snow and made for an awesome descent. We dug one pit on the way…

 
Date2019-03-30
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverRyan Tansey
AvalancheN

General Observations

A friend and I spent three days ski touring on Kalhabuk Mountain in the Brooks Range (Wiseman, AK).  Since there’s no Brooks Range observation page and I’ve received a number of questions about the conditions from EARAC folks, I figured I’d post our report here.  The skiing was phenomenal: great spring corn on eastern aspects and 6-12 inches of re-crystallized powder on northern aspects. …

 
Date2019-03-30
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverKourtney Gundersen
AvalancheN

General Observations

Freezing temperatures at night seem to make stable snow snow conditions in the morning. Warm temperature and sun exposure create a soft top layer loosening bonds between snow layers in the afternoon creating unstable conditions. I have a photo, but it will not attach.

 
Date2019-03-31
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverThomas Lees
AvalancheN

General Observations

Witnessed a rider climb I steep south facing hill around 3pm Sunday. Triggered a decently large avy in a terrain trap. Watched the ride come down around the avy and ride up to see if his riding partner was caught. Thank goodness he wasn’t. Rider that set the avy off did not have a beacon prob or…

 
Date2019-04-25
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverTheodore S Alder
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skied up miller creek just past the first ice cave on the Eel Glacier. 3 newer natural avalanche debris areas. Dug column on 20 degree north aspect. approximately 20" snow with bottom 8" large crystal facet. CT24 with failure at the very bottom. 

 
Date2019-04-25
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverTheodore S Alder
AvalancheN

General Observations

 
Date2019-03-23
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverSean Marble
AvalancheN

General Observations

We skied a bit up Trims Cr and bushwhacked to the ridge. We camped and skied out Michael Cr on Sunday. As soon as the sun hit the snow on Saturday morning it turned into an isothermal mess and started creating wet slabs with shooting cracks. If the weather stays warm like this, wet slabs will definitely be…

 
Date2019-03-24
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDuncan Fisher
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skiied in about 2.5 miles from the road to the Castner Glacier. Dug a pit on an east aspect, 21 degree slope. Top 15cm was a melt/freeze layer, with a pretty solid sun crust. Next 15cm down was a 1-finger hardness slab, then an ice crust, with another 25cm of 1-finger density slab below that. The…

 
Date2019-03-24
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDuncan Fisher
AvalancheN

General Observations

 
Date2019-03-23
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverTaylor Bracher
AvalancheN

General Observations

We found a large natural avalanche that looked to be caused by cornice fall (we didn't witness it occur). West aspect, starting at a ridge just below 5,000'. Located south of the Denali Highway about 15 miles east of Cantwell.The ski approach from the DH was varied- by 9am the snow below brushline was unsupportable, but above…

 
Date2019-03-21
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJames Smith
AvalancheN

General Observations

Checked out conditions near the College Glacier today. It was warm! Didn't check the thermometer, but certainly above freezing. Noted some newer point releases on steep solar aspects.Up at 5500ft on the glacier, snow was deep, 245cm. However, the whole area seems to have a variable 3-5cm thick, melt freeze crust with seemingly bottomless facets…

 
Date2019-03-17
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverRyan Tansey
AvalancheN

General Observations

Hopper and I ski toured approximately 3 miles up Michael Creek drainage.  Objective was to boot up and ski a chute named Wolf run (coordinates 63.448295, -145.714570), N aspect, 40 deg.  Snow pack was maritime-like and solid during the tour to the base of the chute, with a 5in layer of softer wet snow covering a…

 
Date2019-03-02
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverSteph Wight
AvalancheN

General Observations

Castner glacier: We skied out along castner glacier. Trail is well traveled to the first ice cave but deep snow- definitely helpful to have skis or snow shoes. We camped between the first and the second ice cave. Snow was knee to waist deep and soft so it was helpful to wear skis when around camp.…

 
Date2019-03-02
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJulia Gestrich
AvalancheN

General Observations

Very sunny and warm weekend on Castner Glacier, almost no wind. We went 3 miles in, close to a second ice cave and ice ledge to practice prusiking. Upper snow layer in some areas up to knee deep and very dry. Almost impossible to compress to build tent base. On hills often windblown with very…

 
Date2019-03-03
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverSean Marble
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skied up Ann Cr and up onto the ridge on the S side of the drainage. Dug a simple pit on the N aspect (19 deg) before the left turn and steep section in the canyon. Snow was highly localized, with wind crusts and melt freeze crusts. Right below the ridgetop 3/4 of a mile further,…

 
Date2019-03-03
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPhillip Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

Reached the summit of White Princess with clear skies and warm weather! The snow was far to crusty to ski from the summit, but with a few more weeks of warm weather a ski descent of the south face from the summit should be possible. We skied the south west face, below ~8000ft there was several inches of loose powder on a…

 
Date2019-03-03
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverRyan T
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skinned in and camped at the toe of the Castner glacier.  Snow conditions and depths varied depending on aspect/location.  Generally, there was about 4 inches of powder covering a harder layer of wind blown slab.  The slab was easily breakable making travel without skis/snowshoes challenging.  The base was mostly faceted snow.  Temps ranged from 22F in the sun to -5F at night.  We…

 
Date2019-03-03
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverMary Webb
AvalancheN

General Observations

Beautiful blue bird weather all weekend! Super sunny and warm, no wind. It was pretty wind slabby in most areas and there was a lot of hoarfrost underneath the wind crust layers. We saw a little natural avalanche on a slope that was ~35-40 degrees and South facing. We just stuck to the mellow areas and didn't try…

 
Date2019-02-23
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDanielle Bessent
AvalancheN

General Observations

Beautiful day at the Canwell Glacier. Skied to the toe of the glacier via miller creek - about 2 miles in and observed variable snow depths depending on aspect. There was 5-10cm snow above a thin melt-freeze crust and mostly facets to the ground below that. We heard some whoomph noises in the flats. We did not do a…

 
Date2019-02-24
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJonathan Hutchinson
AvalancheN

General Observations

Route: Skinned up Michaels Creek to top of the headwall. Bootpacked on SW aspect to 6800'. Skid down NW aspect. Observations: Plenty of old avalanches in Michael's Creek, non appeared to be recent as the debris was covered in drifted snow with no recent wind. Snow up headwall was 4" to 6" powder over a hard base, …

 
Date2019-02-24
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverLea Hartl
AvalancheN

General Observations

2/24/19: Skinned up Trims Creek (inspired by last week’s group!), followed ridge west of Item Peak headwall to about 6500ft, skied mostly W/SW aspects from ridge back down to Trims drainage. Very sunny day, some wind in the creek but calm further in.  Very variable snow conditions overall. Snow surface has been shaped by wind…

 
Date2019-02-16
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJesse
AvalancheN

General Observations

Trims creek valley cornices overhanging to the north. Snow wind blown crust in the upper section of the valley outside the canyon. 

 
Date2019-02-16
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverSam Kendall
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skinned up the Trims Creek drainage. Observed north facing cornices on ridges above creek.

 
Date2019-02-16
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJordi Maisch
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skied up Trims creek en route to Item Peak. Large natural avalanches observed on southern aspects of the trims creek drainage. 

 
Date2019-02-16
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPhillip Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skied up Trims Creek, generally easy going with deep soft snow in the creek. There were two spots where the creek had open water that forced us to bushwhack around on steep alder covered slopes. Hopefully these will get filled in later in the winter and it will much easier.

 
Date2019-02-10
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverJonathan Koenig
AvalancheN

General Observations

Skinned up Ann Creek on the west side of the Delta River. There was 6-8” of soft powder in sheltered areas of the creek valley. We observed widespread surface hoar from 2500 to 4000 feet. We continued up the creek and climbed on to the east face of Lion’s Head. Above 3500 feet the snow conditions…

 
Date2019-02-02
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverDavid Hickle
AvalancheN

General Observations

Full day of snowmachining and skiing at Summit - started at the Arctic Man parking lot, wound our way back to the Tit.  ~ 8" of fresh powder on top of a slab (I think temps got above freezing ~ 1-2 weeks ago), some dry sluff on a 34 deg slope, no whumps or red…

 
Date2019-01-27
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPhillip Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

Snow surface consisted of 2in of soft, wind transported snow, which made for really good skiing. I broke through a thin snow bridge into a shallow bergschrund up near the ridge but was easily able to climb out. 

 
Date2019-01-26
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverPhillip Wilson
AvalancheN

General Observations

Two of us snowmachined up to just below first-aid, and ski toured up the ridge line on Saturday the 26th, the weather was sunny, around 15F and there was little to no wind. The snow was covered in a hard crust, and heavily wind scoured on southern aspects, in some spots exposing the ground. Northern aspects looked softer but still…

 
Date2018-05-02
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverTrevor Grams
AvalancheN

General Observations

Excellent conditions on Rainbow Ridge. Fresh snow has been blown around into unconsolidated drifts that range from 3 in. to 3 ft. deep. In general, the new snow seems to have bonded very well to the old crust in this area. Windslabs are definitely a concern and are highly variable in terms of their density,…

 
Date2018-04-12
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverBrian Craig
AvalancheN

General Observations

Northeast of Gun Creek 2 natural small avalanches spotted on south facing slopes and one snow machine triggered 30ft wide slide.

 
Date2018-04-11
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverBrian Craig
AvalancheN

General Observations

Northeast of Gun Creek 2 natural small avalanches spotted on south facing slopes and one snow machine triggered 30ft wide slide.

 
Date2019-05-03
LocationEastern Alaska Range
ObserverTrevor Grams
AvalancheN

General Observations

Excellent conditions on Rainbow Ridge. Fresh snow has been blown around into unconsolidated drifts that range from 3 in. to 3 ft. deep. In general, the new snow seems to have bonded very well to the old crust in this area. Windslabs are definitely a concern and are highly variable in terms of their density,…