Avalanche: Turnagain

Location: Eddies, Sunburst, Cornbiscuit

Date:

February 16, 2020 4:37pm

Observer:

Alaska Avalanche School L-2

Route & General Observations

Three groups from AAS L2 course toured up standard West routes:
Eddies to 2050′
Sunburst to 3600′
Cornbiscuit to 2100′

Contact, Location & General Observations

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Forecaster Comments

Additional information passed to the avalanche center to add to this report:
Natural sluffs occurred on the steep S facing terrain of Tincan that were initiated by solar heating. These entrained large amounts of snow and filled gullies.

Avalanche Details

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Trigger	Natural	Remote Trigger	Unknown
Avalanche Type	Dry Loose Snow	Aspect	South
Elevation	unknown	Slope Angle	unknown
Crown Depth	unknown	Width	unknown
Vertical Run	unknown

Red Flags

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Obvious signs of instability

Recent Avalanches?	Yes
Collapsing (Whumphing)?	Yes
Cracking (Shooting cracks)?	No

Observer Comments

-Human triggered and natural dry loose sluffs on S aspect of Tincan Proper
-Dry loose on N aspect of Todd's run Tincan triggered by a group dropping a cornice
-Natural dry loose on S aspect of Sharks fin
-Whumph at 2000' on W aspect of Corn Biscuit

-Old filled in crowns were visible on Wolverine below 2500' on S aspect

Weather & Snow Characteristics

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Weather

Clear and sunny
Teens to low 20F's
Calm wind
No precip

Snow surface

3-6mm surface hoar at all elevations on ~20 low density snow

Snowpack

Test plus pit: Eddies at 2150' on NE aspect
CT13 down 30cm on decomp fragments, CT23 on 1mm rounding facets on the MLK interface
PST80/100 End 95cm below the surface on 4F layer of 1-2mm rounding facets just above the NYE crust
ECTX x 2
Several hand pits failed with moderate force down 30-35cm below surface

Pits: Sunburst 2400' on SW aspect
CT20 down 40cm on DF and .3-.5 NSF
ECTP28 down 56cm down on 4F facets above NYE crust
PST68/100 down 56cm on 4F facets above NYE crust

Pits: Corn Biscuit to 2000' on W aspect
CT's mid teens density change within the top 20-25cm
ECTX x 2
PST35 above NYE crust on 4F facets 80cm below surface
PST55 below NYE crust on 4F facets 65cm below surface
PST75 above NYE crust on 4F facets 60cm below surface

Photos & Video

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Sun induced dry loose avalanches and skier triggered dry loose on Tincan Proper

Old crowns visible on Wolverine S aspect and dry loose in the foreground on S aspect of Sharksfin

4-6mm Surface hoar at 2000' on Eddies

Location

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