Turnagain Pass

The deep slab instability reared its head the past couple days in the Eastern Turnagain Arm area. This was at the tail end of a two day storm that brought warm temperatures and 2-5″ of rain below treeline with 20-40+” of snow above treeline. This was a ripe set up for big slides as it all fell on top of a snowpack harboring persistent weak layers near the ground. There are several large avalanches to report – both natural and artillery/explosive triggered. Most of these occurred along the Seward Highway between Bird and Girdwood as the Alaska DOT conducted avalanche hazard reduction work (another video here). Also, Alyeska Ski Patrol was able to pull out one very large deep slab on the North Face yesterday. For natural activity, a large natural avalanche deposited a powder cloud and a small amount of debris on the Seward Highway near MP 94 while the road was open to traffic. The majority of the debris stopped above the highway elevation.  Dot crews responded immediately to reduce the avalanche hazard near this location. There were two additional large natural avalanches – one on Mount Alpenglow and another in the Lynx Creek drainage (Turnagain Pass zone).

The very large Lynx Creek slide (pictured below) is most concerning for backcounty recreationalists as it points to unsurvivable deep slab avalanches near the tipping point in our core forecast zone. 

The message for today is simple: Patience while the snowpack adjusts to the rapid changes it received over the weekend is vital. Keeping off slopes steeper than 35 degrees, especially in the larger terrain, and out of runnout zones will be key. The powder will likely be enticing at the higher elevations but the consequences will be high for anyone pushing the steeper slope angles.

Temperatures have cooled off overnight and this will help to stabilize the snowpack, more so below treeline where the pack was mostly wet yesterday. Crusty surface conditions can be expected in these below treeline areas with dryer snow above. The weak faceted snow near the ground, responsible for our deep slab problem, will be adjusting at a much slower rate however and our recommended travel on lower angle slopes will persist.

Both fresh wind slabs forming today as well as some lingering slabs from the storm will be good to watch for. These will be above treeline in the upper elevations where dry snow fell despite the warm storm. The new and older slabs will likely be on different aspects as the wind has shifted from the east to the west overnight.  Watch for fresh slabs today in areas that did not load during the storm. These west winds could also overload the deeper weak layers in areas that were not stressed with wind loading prior. Add to that, any wind slab triggered has the potential to step down and trigger a large deeper slab with unfavorable results. These are just a couple more reasons to keep terrain choices conservative out there..

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