Turnagain Pass

Stability continues to be excellent today.  It’s rare that we have so many tracks in so many places across our region.  All of the commonly traveled steep lines have been skied or ridden in the last few weeks.  

One of the bigger challenges right now seems to be finding areas without tracks or with soft snow.  Sunny southerly aspects have a stout breakable crust at the surface.  Daytime temperatures are still not warm enough to soften up those faces and make for good corn conditions.  Shaded north faces are holding faceted “recycled” powder, which can be quite good if you can find areas without old tracks.  

Avalanche related hazards today will include – 

Cornices.  Give overhanging cornice features space as they may break back farther than expected.

Sluffing in steep terrain – 

That loose snow on shaded north faces will sluff out in low volume.  It doesn’t have a lot of mass to it, but it must be skied strategically to avoid getting pushed off your feet in high consequence terrain.  Check out this article for sluff management tips.

Thinking about the future – tomorrow and the weekend…  

There is a good rule of thumb – After long periods without precipitation, the surface becomes a poor interface for the next snow load.

Our current snow surface consists of glazed crusts on south faces, surface hoar, and faceted snow on north faces.  All of these components can be the next layer of concern when we get our next snow load.