Turnagain Pass Avalanche Forecast

Nearly all the activity we’ve seen recently can be classified under wind slab.  Fortunately everything we’ve seen has been low volume and isolated to small pockets.  The photo below is from 2 days ago on Tincan.

Since we just got a significant additional load of new snow and wind, this concern is worse today.  Snowfall was heavy enough yesterday to limit visibility and prevent anybody from getting above treeline.  We haven’t seen firsthand the areas of highest concern, but we know it’s been snowing and blowing.  

South facing slopes will add another layer of complexity.  Multiple layers of buried sun crusts can be found on sunny aspects.  We don’t know how those layers will react to the moderate additional snow load, but it’s worth considering that new snow doesn’t bond easily to slippery crusts.  Stability aside, those crust layers may affect the quality of skiing and riding on south aspects.

In areas that were not wind affected we can expect loose snow to sluff easily in steep terrain.  Anywhere the wind didn’t stiffen up the surface and slope angles exceed the mid 30 degrees you should expect snow to sluff and entrain volume on the way down.  This could be a problem if surprised or in steep channeled terrain.