Turnagain Pass

Sluffing was easy to initiate yesterday with the ultra dry layer on the surface.  Steeper confined terrain like chutes and couloirs could likely entrain enough volume to knock someone off their feet.  

From the avalanche perspective, loose snow is a manageable concern.  Use the terrain to let the sluff fall away and to the side of your line, stop periodically to allow it to pass, or keep enough speed to stay in front of it.  

Wind appeared to be strongest overnight through the channeled terrain of Turnagain Arm.  Sunburst station showed relatively little wind.  In those areas that saw gusting into the 20s we may have wind slab at higher elevations.  The dry nature of the recent snowfall makes that snow easy to pick up and move around by the wind.  Many of the weather stations showed a northwest wind direction, meaning that south and east facing slopes are most likely to have wind slabs.  

Besides the surface snow, the underlying bed surface may contribute to the problems.  Southerly faces and anything that got sun exposure in the last week will have a thick crust under the new snow.  That crust may contribute to poor bonding of other layers and complicate the issues.