Turnagain Pass Avalanche Forecast

The last 3 weeks of clear and cool weather has helped to create very weak snow on the surface throughout the forecast area.  A lack of significant loading from precipitation or wind has kept avalanche activity to a minimum.  An exception to this was found over the weekend in the Girdwood Valley, where strong Northerly winds on Friday loaded fresh slabs onto this weak snow surface.  Turnagain Pass was shielded by the Chugach Range from this outflow wind event.

What this leaves us with is a tale of two different snowpacks.  

On Turnagain Pass, the core of the forecast area, you will find very shallow pockets of fresh slab 3-4” deep that have built as a result of light snowfall and moderate winds over the past 24 hours.    Wind will help to build slabs as thick as 8” by the end of the day on leeward slopes.  These pockets could become deeper if additional snowfall exceeds the forecasted 2-3” snow for today.

In the Girdwood Valley you can expect to encounter stiff wind slabs in the mid to upper elevations that are several days old.  These slabs are hard and sitting on very weak snow.  These slabs will grow slightly today with average depth in the 6-8″ range.  It is important to be able to recognize wind loaded features.  Wind loaded slopes will feel stiff and sound hollow.  Shooting cracks radiating from your skis, board or feet are an obvious indicator of unstable snow.

In areas not affected by wind, expect sluffing to occur easily in steep terrain.  New low density snow combined with the older weak snow will be easy to trigger and low in volume.  If visibility allows travel into upper elevation steep terrain today, watch any sluff that you trigger and steer away from it.