Turnagain Pass

The only avalanches reported yesterday were two new glide avalanches seen in the Summit area on Fresno and Gilpatrick. There was also a chunk of a glide avalanche that released on Eddie’s Ridge on Thursday afternoon.

Active weather returns to the area today, with wind being the main player for most of the day before the precipitation picks up later this afternoon. Wind slab avalanches will become more likely as the winds increase, but the size will be limited by the amount of soft snow available to be blown into fresh slabs. They will most likely be around 6 to 12″ deep, and may be a bit more reactive than usual since they will be forming on top of slick crusts and possibly surface hoar on some slopes. The most likely places to find unstable conditions will be up on higher elevation slopes just below ridgelines, convex rolls, and steep gullies. You can stay out of trouble by avoiding these terrain features, and watching out for warning signs like shooting cracks, collapsing, or active wind loading.

Wet Loose Avalanches: If we get surprised by the weather and either see some sunshine or get more rain than expected, we will likely see some wet loose activity this afternoon. Look out for rollerballs releasing as snow surfaces melt and soften, and be aware of overhead hazard if you start to notice surface crusts breaking down. This is unlikely to happen today, but the weather is always full of surprises.

Glide Avalanches: It seems the glide avalanche problem is slowly starting to reawaken in the area. We have seen glide cracks opening up throughout the advisory area, and have seen a handful of glide avalanches release over the past few days. This includes two glide avalanches in the Summit Lake area yesterday (Gilpatrick and Fresno), and one in Turnagain Pass on Thursday (Eddie’s Ridge). This type of avalanche releases without warning, so be sure to avoid spending any time below open glide cracks.

If you’re feeling uninspired by the current surface conditions but still want to get outside today, come up to the Seattle Ridge motorized parking lot and say hi! We’ll be up there from noon to 4 pm, grilling up burgers and dogs, running some beacon practice drills, and hanging out with our friends from AMDS and Anchorage Yamaha and Polaris. More details here, hopefully we’ll see you up there!

The scene from a previous Turnagain Pass Avalanche Awareness Day. Always a good time!

We are still paying close attention the layer of weak snow that was buried two weeks ago, which produced a widespread avalanche cycle during the week following the storm and is still showing concerning signs in snow pits at Turnagain Pass. This is a combination of buried surface hoar and near-surface facets, which is sitting on top of an older melt-freeze crust on solar aspects. The layer is slowly becoming more stubborn and difficult to trigger but a person may still be able to trigger a large avalanche failing on this weak snow, now around 2 feet deep on average.

These layers are difficult to assess, since the are unlikely to give you clear warning signs even when conditions are dangerous. The only way to get a better idea of how the layer is behaving where you are traveling is to take the time to dig a pit and assess. If you are getting unstable test results, it is best to dial back your terrain objectives.  Over the past few days, we’ve gotten poor test results on Magnum, Sunburst, and Tincan Proper, with less concerning results on Seattle Ridge. These layers can be tricky to evaluate, so now is a good time to keep terrain objectives modest and be very careful with safe travel protocol like traveling one at a time in steep terrain and watching partners from safe spots outside of avalanche runout zones.

Sample of the buried surface hoar layer from a snowpit at 2500′ on Magnum Ridge. Photo: Aubrey Palmer, 03.22.2024.