Turnagain Pass Avalanche Forecast

There has not been a whole lot of change in the avalanche conditions lately and we have not heard of any avalanche activity the past few days. The pack is becoming weaker and weaker every day under clear and cold weather. Surface conditions consist of surface hoar in most areas and near surface facets below. Very little wind for a while now has kept the recycled powder quite nice. The snow is still mostly supportable to skis and/or a board but once you step off, your boot goes straight to the tundra. Rocks are the biggest hazard where most folks are recreating right now.

That said, the steeper slopes at the upper elevations continue to harbor slabs that have the potential to avalanche to the ground and take someone on a nasty ride. Slopes that are most likely to be triggered are those at the higher elevations in the 40 degree range and unsupported from below. Probing with a pole to feel for stiff snow over hollow feeling snow and watching for collapsing and cracking are good ways to find suspect areas.

This problem is very slowly getting better and for the snow geek here is a pit profile of one such suspect slope HERE. There are a few reasons the pack is taking longer to rot away at the upper elevations. One is the snow is deeper and stiffer than the lower elevations so it simply takes longer. Another is the temperature has remained warmer (upper teens to mid 20’s) compared with the single digit temperatures below treeline, this is creating much lower snowpack temperature gradients at the higher elevations than the large gradients seen at the lower elevations. But the fact remains, the whole pack is well on its way to becoming one big weak layer.