| Trigger | Natural | Remote Trigger | 0 |
| Avalanche Type | Hard Slab | Aspect | South Southwest |
| Elevation | 3300ft | Slope Angle | 37deg |
| Crown Depth | 4ft | Width | 150ft |
| Vertical Run | 100ft |
Avalanche: Turnagain
Location: Cornbiscuit
Cornbiscuit to 3500′ – down a north aspect, then back around to 3300′ on a SW aspect to check out a recently released glide crack!
Avalanche Details
Glide crack released on Cornbiscuit that wasn't present on 12/26, when it would have been observed from Lipps. This crack likely released late last night or this AM, as there was no snow on the bed surface which looked to be tundra and grass. We dug a pit just upslope from it; see photos and pit structure below!
Three new glide cracks formed on a SW aspect of Magnum, just skiers left of PMS bowl. These cracks weren't present on 12/24.
Glide cracks noted earlier in the week in the Lynx Creek drainage remain unchanged as reported on 12/24.
Obvious signs of instability
| Recent Avalanches? | Yes |
| Collapsing (Whumphing)? | No |
| Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | No |
Observer Comments
Glide cracks forming and releasing
Weather
Few clouds transitioning to overcast mid-day with patchy valley fog
Temps in the teens
Light north winds on ridgeline, with a few moments of sustained moderate N winds as the sky transitioned
Very light snowfall late afternoon.
Snow surface
1-2" of snow fell on 12/27, with small surface hoar present over much of the route.
Ski penetration of 4-8" down low, and 2-6" above treeline.
Some wind affect present but surface snow still fist hard.
Snowpack
The top 70-100+cm of the snowpack continues to be right side up, sitting over a crust sandwich that sits on moist rounding facets over a not frozen ground.
As depicted below, compression tests showed no results at our pit location.
Three new-ish glide cracks on Magnum; these weren't present on 12/24!
Closeup of the largest of the three... such sadness!
Snow structure on Cornbiscuit, just above the glide that released in the past 24 hours.
Glide that released. Note how the ground is visible just below the fracture line, but fairly quickly it appears the debris ran on snow, and not the ground.
Closeup of Cornbiscuit glide
Some of this Cornbiscuit glide crack has yet to release