Observation: Turnagain

Location: Bertha Creek

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

We toured up Bertha Creek to the Goldpan/Super Bowl area and skied some steeper terrain. We triggered some dry loose avalanches on the steeper slopes and noticed multiple other groups doing the same, but that was the only avalanche concern we had out there today. We dug one pit at 2700′ to get another look at the January facet layer and did not see anything concerning.

Weather & Snow Characteristics
Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.
Weather

Clear, calm, and cold. Great weather today. Air temp was -11 F in the parking lot this morning but single digits to low teens above zero F later in the day at higher elevations. Occasional light northeasterly breezes, but mostly calm winds.

Snow surface

Surprisingly little wind-effected snow out in this area. 4-6" low density snow on firm surfaces for the most part. Mid-elevations on the front side of Cornbiscuit had more variable surfaces, with some stiff but breakable wind slabs, some crusts, and some soft snow. The Bertha Creek drainage, Super Bowl, and Goldpan areas were largely unaffected by recent outflow winds.

Snowpack

Dry loose avalanches were the only real concern we noticed today. These were getting almost big enough to bury a person in some of the steeper terrain. We dug one pit on a SW aspect at 2700' (see attached profile for details) and were able to identify the January facet layer but it did not look concerning in the pit. This aligns well with other recent observations from Turnagain Pass, and it seems unlikely a person would be able to trigger an avalanche on that layer for the core advisory area. The layer is more concerning around the fringes, especially to the south near the Johnson Pass and Summit Lake areas.

Photos & Video
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