Not Recommended - CSP

Chugach State Park snow was very thin, stale and hammered by foot traffic.  Fine for hiking, but skiing was sketchy.  Falling with any speed would likely yield abrasions and blood.  But...

It's presently snowing with snow in the forecast for the next three days!  AY-OH!

Pete's Lipps & Summit Lake Avalanche

Backcountry skiing in Chugach National Forest is a dream that turned into a nightmare for four hapless skiers in the Summit Lake country.  Kevin Wright, a forecaster at the Chugach National Forest Glacier Ranger District, reported Butch Mountain as the sad scene involving a helicopter rescue of the four skiers, some with broken bones.  Wright's report stated the slide started well above the four as they ascended Butch Mountain. 

Butch is steep.  Above Lower Summit Lake, it rises 2500 feet at an average 28-degree angle with localized angles in the mid-30's to 40's with clear avalanche chutes that many have safely skied without incident.  The slide that ripped above the four fellows yesterday is a cruel reminder of the risks of backcountry skiing.  Snow science and avalanche hazard reporting can mitigate, but the perfect slope angle for skiing coincides with the perfect slope angles for avalanches and these slopes tempt us to take risk.

Breezy Ridge

Avalanche risk was at the center of our conversation as AKRobb, Dr. Snow, Zach and yours truly contemplated Pete's North southerly 38-degree slope.  We started with a Lipps lap, and we crossed Spokane Creek above its canyon to ski Pete's North.  Wind was blowing hard on Lipps and Pete's N ridgelines and loading the southerly slopes.  Winds recorded on Sunburst averaged 25 mph with gusts to 40.  After some discussion, we opted against testing Pete's N 38-degree slope, and returned to the mellower slopes down valley.  Would the steeper slope have avalanched had we skied it?  We'll never know.

Pete's Steeps Wait to Ski Another Day

Temperatures on Lipps/Pete's ranged from the high to low 20's from the 800-ft road elevation up to the 3500-ft ridgelines.  Snow was sugary with a thin film of crust.  Skiing was good, not great.  The forested elevations of Pete's N were extremely crunchy and slide slipping was necessary in few places after we milked the very last bit of Pete's glades. 

  

Dr. Snow's Diagnosis:  Powder Fever

All photos by AKRobb



Change of Direction

Pyramid looked so good in the sunshine yesterday, but as we peered into a black hole at the end of Turnagain Arm, we questioned the wisdom of our decision of its pursuit.  The 40 mph gusts on Sunburst at 7 a.m. with an increasing trend disuaded DP and yours truly from pursuing Pyramid on this day. 

Reversing our decision and our track toward Pyramid, we turned around at Beluga Point and headed toward Hatcher Pass where the anemometer on Marmot indicated only 20 mph gusts.  Thank goodness for wireless internet via cell phone - it provided the key information in our decision to turn and run from the big storm.

You can run, but you cannot hide from a storm like this one.  Though it was less intense than the peak 78 mph midday gusts recorded on Sunburst, the wind blew all day on 4068 and Govt Peak gradually increasing over the course of the day, but there was a fresh 4-6" since Geno and I visited on Friday, 21-Jan that remained relatively untouched below the brushline.  Skies were grey.  Temperatures were in the 20's.

We heard the snow settle in a few places on the southeast-facing slopes southwest of 4068, and noticed some small natural releases near the bottom of the valley at wind lips just above the creek, but stable snow with good skiing on the SE-facing slopes.  The wind on "Frostbite" was blew all day out of the south, and loaded the north-facing lee with soft slabs that ski cut with crowns up to 2 feet thick and run-outs of hundreds of vertical feet.