Turnagain Pass

Welcome to the 2012/2013 winter forecasting season!  Due to early season conditions, for both the snowpack and our operations, we will be issuing intermittent snow and avalanche updates between today and November 17th, as conditions dictate.  There is a thin blanket of snow out there and that means we need to start thinking avalanches.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Friends of the CNFAIC’s benefit hosted by the Bear Tooth – it was a full house and a great success!!

The calendar is filling up with free awareness classes and other avalanche education courses offered in our area so make plans accordingly. The first of four “fireside chats” starts Nov. 8th in Girdwood (see calendar for further details).

Keep checking our photos/observations page for early season information.

SNOWPACK and AVALANCHE DISCUSSION
For anyone who has ventured into the mountains recently, it is quite obvious that the mid October snow has deteriorated and become very loose and sugary during the past two weeks of clear skies. Currently there is 0 to 16″ of this old snow covering most areas in the Girdwood/Turnagain Pass and Summit area. Add to this the abundant (and gigantic) surface hoar on top of the “sugar” snow and we are dealing with a snowpack that is essentially one big weak layer. This means the avalanche danger is generally low now, but once a slab of snow is formed on top (by additional snow and/or wind) we could see some widespread avalanche activity and a rapid rise in danger.  

General snowcover as of October 29th

Recent avalanche activity: Believe it or not, the snow has lost so much cohesion and become so weak that we are seeing facet-lanches (or facet sluffs), which are sluffs in the faceted snow! Also, the sun is still strong enough that a few wet sluffs have been seen on rocky south facing slopes.

For today, the trace to an inch or two of snow with light to moderate winds has the potential to form some small pockets of wind slabs near most exposed ridgelines. Any pockets that may form and be triggered will likely pick up steam as they would entrain the loose faceted snow adding to the size of the slide. Watching for areas with recent wind deposited snow and steering clear of runouts under sustained steep slopes and gullies, where sluffs may run far, are good things to keep in mind. As the old-timers say: Whenever there is snow on the ground we should be thinking avalanches.