Turnagain Pass Avalanche Forecast

When you take your skis off and try to walk around in your boots, the lack of strength in the snowpack is instantly apparent.  My boots sank through all the layers, only stopping at the ground a little more than 2 feet down.  The slab/weak layer combination is still the same as it was last Friday, but not nearly as unstable as it was then.  The same equation is there, with stronger and denser storm snow from Nov. 21st on top of very weak and loose faceted snow.  The reason why we don’t have a big problem at the moment is that the relatively denser slab layer is actually quite soft and not very strong or cohesive compared to the weak layer underneath.  This snowpack still has the potential to become dangerous if we got a wet/heavy storm, but until then the avalanche danger will be isolated.  

Our snowpit tests indicated relatively good stability.  An extended column test revealed no tendency to propagate.  If someone were to venture into steeper wind loaded terrain, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of reactive wind loaded pockets.  The main deterrent from going those places will be thin snowcover and exposed rocks rather than the avalanche conditions.  Click here for a more detailed writeup on the pit profile below.