Turnagain Pass

We have been talking about glide cracks and glide avalanches for months and the past couple weeks have been notably active. In the past couple days our concern for glide avalanches has become more elevated with a wet saturated snowpack and four nights of above freezing temperatures. New cracks are appearing and releasing, and old large cracks are also releasing without warning. The entire East face of Seattle Ridge is covered including the area of Repeat Offender, which has seen accelerated movement in the last two days. The area near the ‘uptrack’ is getting more cramped, with little wiggle room for safely playing in this area. The idea of parking under or someone getting a machine stuck under a glide crack is a total dice roll. Navigating through the mid-elevation band is getting more and more complex. The only way to mange this hazard is avoidance. 

Yesterday glide activity on Seattle Ridge was impressive and several small lobes released near the uptrack. Click HERE for an observation of glide activity from Yesterday.

Many new glide avalanches were observed yesterday in Girdwood, Twentymile, and Turnagain Pass, including this one on the SW shoulder of Pete’s South. 

Uptrack is on far right side of picture; glide cracks cover and have almost connected the entire lookers left side of Repeat Offender on Seattle Ridge

Yesterday temperatures reached the 50F’s at sea level, and for the fourth night in a row the mid elevation zone remained above freezing. This is not helping our wet and saturated snowpack stabilize very quickly. Wet loose natural activity was observed yesterday on all aspects, and on solar aspects the activity was larger and more notable.

Today triggering a wet loose avalanche will be possible below 2500’ on slopes steeper than 35 degrees. Wet avalanches once initiated can entrain more snow rapidly and are very hard to get out of. They can be particularly hazardous if they push you into a terrain trap and bury you deeply. If your skis or snowmachine are sinking deep into wet snow this is an obvious clue that the snow is unstable. Stick to low angle terrain and avoid runout zones where avalanches from above may catch you. Today’s weather forecast is for scattered rain showers, which could mean periods of sun. If the sun becomes more of a theme than cloud cover, expect natural wet avalanche in the alpine on solar aspects as well.

Wet loose activity observed yesterday morning on the West face of Magnum before the sun and day time temperatures started playing a roll.

Wind slabs and Cornices:

Finding a lingering wind slab 1-2’ thick is possible in steeper terrain today and will be more likely to trigger during the heat of the day on solar aspects. Watch for cracking in wind-loaded areas and avoid travel on or under cornices. Today’s warm temperatures will make cornices more likely to fail.