Turnagain Pass Avalanche Forecast

Saturday, November 10th’s storm put down quite a showing in Alaska. Unfortunately, Turnagain Pass didn’t fair as well as other areas but we did pick up a good foot of powder.

A few folks have been getting out at Turnagain Pass the last couple days. The photo below is of Tincan taken Tuesday, Nov. 12th. You can see a slab avalanche on the right that looks to have been skier/boarder triggered. After talking with some folks, it sounds like this occurred on the 11th just after the storm exited. A few more details can  be found HERE  and a  VIDEO HERE.

There was not a whole lot of natural activity that went on with the weekend’s storm – for Turnagain standards anyhow. Yet, a hand full of fracture lines could be seen if you looked hard enough. The largest concentration I could find was on the south face of Lipps ridge – photo below. The more impressive crowns are in the back of the picture in the steeper/rocky terrain.

Snowpack assessment:

Before the Nov. 10 storm we had bare ground up to 2200-2500ft and older snow above that. The old snow had become loose and faceted with several days of clear and dry weather. With a foot+ of new snow falling on this old layer in the course of 24 hours, it’s not a surprise that avalanche activity occurred. It is likely that the weakness for these avalanche events was the older faceted snow. Evidence for this is the season history just mentioned, crown heights of 12-18 inches and no avalanche activity seen below 2,500ft where no snow existed prior.

With the cold and clear weather moving in post storm this has allowed the storm snow to settle out and facets to gain strength.  

Wind is now the key player in the avalanche game. With plenty of loose snow available for transport, wind slab avalanches should be on your radar. Winds were blowing enough from the north and west to move snow around at the highest peaks yesterday. Keep an eye out for any hollow feeling or wind stiffened snow if venturing to the upper elevations.

Special Announcements

With minimal snow cover on the ground in the Turnagain Pass area we are still issuing intermittent updates. Full advisories, 4-5 days a week, will begin with the next good storm system – possibly this weekend. Starting in early December we will be fully funded and staffed with the arrivial of John Fitzgerald (aka “Fitz”) and  7 day a week forecasts will begin.

A call for snow cover information:
In order to issue quality advisories and accurate danger ratings we need help from you – the public! Any information on snow conditions or avalanches you can pass on just makes our product better. The best way to do this is via the website on the “submit an observation” page. You can also send us an email at staff@chugachavalanche.org or by calling and leaving a message on our hotline 907-254-2369, press the * key to go straight to voice mail. Thank you in advance!