Turnagain Pass

No new avalanches have been reported in Turnagain Pass since Sunday, January 14, although new glide cracks are reported daily. However, four new glide avalanches were reported elsewhere. Two in Girdwood Valley; one on Raggedtop and the other in the upper Crow Creek drainage. The other two were in the Summit Lake zone on the east face of Fresno and the south face of Wilson North.

The northwest winds were strong enough last night to form fresh wind slabs in the upper elevations. These outflow winds are forecast to remain elevated through the day blowing 15-25 mph and gusting to 40 mph in the Turnagain Pass area. Stronger winds are forecast in the Crow Pass area of Girdwood Valley and to the south at Summit Lake and Seward. Wind direction can vary with this flow pattern. Typically, Seattle Ridge sees northwest wind and winds on Sunburst come from the south, but this isn’t always the case.

If the wind forecast verifies today wind slabs will be easy to trigger in the upper elevations. How sensitive these slabs are to trigger will depend on how recently the slab formed and how well it is bonding to the snow beneath. To assess the conditions, watch for recent avalanches and snow blowing off ridgelines and across gully’s depositing into pillow-like features. Wind affected snow feels firm beneath your machine or feet and may sound hollow or produce a shooting crack.

This outflow wind event is impacting a large area of Alaska. It looks like Turnagain Pass will be spared from the strongest winds. Image courtesy of the NWS Anchorage office 1.17.24.

The glide avalanche problem continues with new glide cracks reported daily throughout the forecast areas. Pictured below is the very large avalanche that released on Sunday, January 14 above the Seattle Ridge motorized up track. There are still several open cracks that could avalanche onto the up track itself and other cracks that loom above other well traveled areas. Avoid traveling underneath glide cracks when possible. When an alternate route isn’t an option, we recommend making a plan before traveling underneath glide cracks. This plan includes identifying safe spots to stop and group up, watching the slope above while traveling one at a time and moving quickly. These avalanches are large and destructive as they take the entire 5-7’ of snowpack with them.

Very large glide avalanche just to the left of the main Seattle Ridge motorized up track. There are still many glide cracks capable of avalanching onto the up track itself. Photo 1.15.24

There is an old weak layer (near surface facets and buried surface hoar) that was causing avalanches over a week ago; last known was Monday 1/8. It sits around 2-4′ deep in the snowpack, is hard to find, and showing signs that it has bonded, all good news. We will be taking this issue off the forecast but will still be watching for it behind the scenes. We’d like to remind folks headed to less traveled areas to always be aware an outlier avalanche is possible. These areas include Lynx Ck/Bench Pk zone and Silvertip.