Turnagain Pass

After a brief period of clearing yesterday the clouds rolled back in and light snow and rain fell overnight. Today is forecasted to be cloudy with rain and snow showers and the wind and precipitation is forecasted to pick up tonight. What this means is there is a bit of a lull in major loading of the snowpack but there is still a lot of uncertainty about the set-up. We have received a lot of snow and rain (in a short period of time) and had strong winds. Warm temperatures have increased the likelihood that the storm layers are bonding but this has increased the chances for wet avalanches (see below). We have very limited information on the snowpack in the Alpine. There are a variety of concerns for today. This all means a conservative mindset is important. 

Storm Slabs: Fluctuating temperatures and snowfall may combine to create storm slabs as new layers of snow are deposited. Pay attention to how well the new snow bonds to the snow below. 

Wind Slabs: Winds today will continue to add stress to very large wind slabs in leeward terrain. Human triggering of these could be very dangerous due to the depth of slab. Avoid steep wind-loaded slopes. 

Cornices: Natural cornice fall activity is still possible today and could trigger an avalanche on the slope below. Again this something you want to avoid traveling on or underneath. Cornices will be tender and could break way farther back than expected. Falling down the slope with a refrigerator to school bus sized chunk of snow on your snowmachine or skis would be terrible, if not deadly.

The storm that ended yesterday brought rain up to almost 1800′ that fell on to 1-2′ of snow. Temperatures remain around freezing or above at lower elevations. Rain is forecasted to fall again today up to 1600′.  All this has created a set-up that is prime for wet avalanches. Natural wet loose and wet slab avalanches will be possible in the mid elevation band today and human triggered avalanches are likely in steep terrain. Look for roller ball activity, that is an indication that the surface snow is loosing strength and avoid terrain traps. Wet snow can be very hazardous especially if it gets moving and stuffs you into bad spot.

Recent wet slab avalanche South of the Bertha Creek campground.

Well… another glide avalanche happened! It was easy to check it out while getting gas at the Girdwood Tesoro. This is a great reminder that many glide cracks are still lurking under the new snow and have the potential to release at any time. Glides threaten a lot of well-traveled terrain on both the motorized and non-motorized side of the highway. Observers also reported that some of glide cracks are reappearing that indicates they are on the move. Avoid travel below glide cracks or under terrain where they might be.

Glide avalanche on the West face of Pyramid Peak. This happened sometime before 10:30 am when we first received a report of it.