Turnagain Pass

Don’t let the low avalanche danger in the treeline elevation band lead you into thinking the snowpack is any more stable above the trees. The thing is today, travel and visibility will likely be good enough to allow folks to venture further into the backcountry. These ‘less traveled slopes’ are the most likely places to trigger an avalanche. There is a layer of buried surface hoar (from Nov 16) that sits roughly 1-2+ feet below the surface and it is still causing avalanches. 

Two avalanches were triggered yesterday. Both were on the Northerly aspects of Cornbiscuit. One was a result of buried surface hoar and the other was a wind slab. No one was caught in either and the wind slab avalanche is discussed in the secondary concern below.

Check out this report from the group on Cornbiscuit that triggered the avalanche breaking on the buried surface hoar. I was also able to find the layer across the valley on the South face of Magnum Ridge. As we have been saying for weeks now, it’s a tricky situation since slopes that have avalanched are generally stable, but those that have not remain unstable. Telling between them is difficult as subsequent snow and wind have covered up the evidence. Managing your terrain and using safe travel protocol is key!

• Expose one person at a time
• Group up in safe zones
• Have an escape route planned
• Watch your partners and where other groups are around you

Wind slab avalanches remain a concern on all exposed slopes where winds have formed drifts and slabs. There is a lot of wind affected snow out there and many of the slabs found yesterday felt stubborn and hard to move. However, one party found a touchy slab on a steep North facing shoulder of Cornbiscuit that released on a ski cut. This is a good example of not letting your guard down even if you see no signs of instability. A big thanks to the party that wrote in and you can see their account HERE.

Photos below: Skier triggered wind slab on Cornbiscuit. This slab was in an exposed and shallow zone, bed surface was old melt-freeze crust near the ground with reported facets above. The slab looks to be two wind slabs stacked on each other.