Turnagain Pass

A slab 12-20” thick is sitting on a fragile layer of buried surface hoar. This persistent weak layer is widespread and has been found on all aspect above treeline throughout Turnagain Pass and Summit Lake. Over fifteen human triggered avalanches were reported throughout the weekend and three more occurred yesterday on Tincan. Luckily no one has been buried or injured. Click HERE for more details on these observations.

Note worthy things to keep in mind today:

1. Most of this activity has occurred in places that are known to be ‘safe terrain,’ like Manitoba’s West face and the standard skin track on Tincan.
2. Many of these avalanches were triggered remotely, thus be extra aware of crossing under slopes above you.
3. New snow and wind from Sunday has covered up avalanches that occurred Friday and Saturday, making it very difficult to know which slopes have slid.  
4. Very little natural activity has been observed, with the exception of the West and South facing slopes on Lipps.

Although many of these avalanches have been relatively small, don’t forget that BIGGER SLOPES WILL HAVE BIGGER CONSIQUENCES! As we move away from the weather events that caused this scary set-up, remember this type of avalanche problem will be slow to heal. The next few days of clear weather are going to be tough to resist the temptation to get into bigger terrain.  Avoid high consequence terrain and keep your slope angles low.  Cautious route-finding and conservative decision-making will be necessary! 

This small avalanche was triggered remotely by two skiers putting in a skin track at 2200′ on a North aspect on Tincan yesterday.

Natural avalanche activity on the West face and South face of Lipps, as seen yesterday (Nov. 21) from the Johnson Pass Trailhead.

An 18″ crown from an avalanche remotely triggered near the top of Manitoba’s West Face on Sunday November 20. This was above an avalanche triggered in the same area on November 19th.