We have e-mail reports from John Norton that there have been some unusually large slab avalanche releases lately in the Haines area. We don't have good information on the timing or triggers, but they are described as very large slides, releasing entire bowls and slopes. John says it well:

You'll get a nice look at one of the big slides when you fly in. Just after you pass the Davidson Glacier there is a hanging glacier called Paradise Glacier. There is a large cirque just north of Paradise Glacier at about 4200 ft that released the entire cirque in a single event. The release edge is visible from my home at sea level so I guess it is at least 10-12 feet deep. A similar deep rip graces a nearby slope for 500-600 feet. I have spoken with several skiers who have been in the Chilkat Pass in the past week and they have indicated that similar massive slides are occurring up there. Hence my concern of a major instability layer that is common throughout the Haines/Chilkat Pass area.

I called Sean Dog at Alaska Heliskiing. He says he can see some large slabs on the mountains in the Porcupine area. He thinks they probably released with the last snowfall, but was out of town so cannot confirm the timing.

Snowpacks throughout Southeast have more weak, sugary faceted grains and depth hoar than usual this year because they are still thinner than normal and it has been mostly cold since the snow came. We even have depth hoar on Douglas Island, in Juneau. There's also a deep icy melt-freeze layer from the mid-November through mid-January thaw, and another icy melt-freeze layer and suncrust in some areas from light thawing in early to mid February.

So we have a weak snowpack structure and can expect more instability when the big spring dumps come. Take care out there.

I will be in Haines next week so will be able to check field conditions there, but unfortunately we have not been able to find a programmer to write us something that will enable me to post remotely before this summer, it still has to be done from the computer in our office. I'll try to put an update here when I return.

Bill