Turnagain Pass Avalanche Forecast

Though the main event for yesterday was the wind, our main concern still lies with the potential for triggering an avalanche that fails in the weak snow at the base of the pack. After the past day of cold temperatures, the likelihood for triggering one of these larger slides is decreasing but the problem is not gone – our poor snowpack structure remains and so should our wariness. Keeping with safe travel practices, such as exposing only one person at a time, is wise if venturing onto steep slopes. Yet, if you wish to avoid any avalanche problems all together, stick to gentler terrain 35 degrees or less.

Below is a picture of a couple wind slab avalanches on Seattle Ridge just above the motorized lot that occurred yesterday. It is hard to see but these wind slabs look to have stepped down, or scoured down, into the weak November snow. This highlights our main concern.

Two natural wind slabs on the Southeast face of Seattle Ridge (3,000′). 

We had a peak in reactivity for these persistent slabs on Sunday where two human triggered avalanches occurred. At least one of these (on Eddies) was a remote trigger. The other one (on Magnum) is unclear. See the investigation from the Magnum avalanche HERE.

For anyone that was in the Girdwood/Turnagain/Summit zone yesterday morning, it was hard not to notice the high winds ravaging the mountains. Plumes were widespread and so was a short lived wind slab cycle. Below are a few photos from this event. The winds spiked for 3 hours, along with the avalanche activity, then quickly died down for the afternoon.

Today, watch for lingering wind slabs left over from this wind event – most likely on East and South aspects. These should be stiff and stubborn to trigger but still possible – avoid steep slopes with wind drifted and hollow feeling snow. More importantly, the chance of triggering a wind slab that breaks in the deeper weak layers mentioned above is possible – making for a larger slide, similar to the Seattle Ridge avalanche yesterday.

Plumes along peaks and ridges                                               Natural wind slab on East facing Fresno Peak
 

More details on these avalanches can be found HERE.