| Trigger | Unknown | Remote Trigger | Unknown |
| Avalanche Type | Unknown | Aspect | Unknown |
| Elevation | unknown | Slope Angle | unknown |
| Crown Depth | unknown | Width | unknown |
| Vertical Run | unknown |
Avalanche: Turnagain
Location: Pete's North
Pete’s North to 2000′
Observer Comments
Avalanches from the past week - including several large slabs on a SE aspect of 4940' and one on a SW aspect of Lipps - are pictured below. Some activity appeared to be fairly shallow and fresh from the past few days, while other crowns were deeper, and partly blown/snowed in. Propagation for some slides was fairly wide, particularly for a series of recent slides above treeline on a SW aspect of Pete's North. Other previously reported activity is easy to see along the highway; small debris piles were also evident in the main portion of Todd's run and below the steep chutes leading into Todds as well.
Weather
CLEAR, CALM, and COLD! -8f at the car both morning and late afternoon, but noticeably warmer up high.
Snow surface
2-4mm surface hoar was noticeable along the surface most of the time, though down low it appeared mainly to be stellars that were sparkling.
At the 650' in elevation (the parking lot) there is a 5mm thick fragile melt freeze crust, 1" below the surface. Ski penetration of 6" fairly consistently to 2000'
Snowpack
The snowpack is somewhat thinner at the far south end of the pass, with HS=60cm at the parking lot increasing to 100-120cm by 2000'
See below for pit structure and test results in a clearing at 1900'. Overall, ski pole probing revealed that the Thanksgiving Crust complex at the far south end of Turnagain Pass is much more fragile than near Tincan/Eddies and Seattle Ridge near the uptrack.
Snowpack structure and pit results at 1900'. The "Sudden Collapse" fracture was extremely noticeable, with the block dropping 2-3cm in each test.
Closeup of a large crown on a roughly W aspect of Lipps.
The Lipps crown is on the left hand side of this photo.
This large slab avalanche is on a SE aspect of Seattle Ridge across from Pete's North
Recent slabs on Pete's South. Of note is smaller, shallower activity on the left hand side of the photo, with a deeper crown present on the right.
Small recent slabs close to the surface on Pete's South
Recent crowns observed across the SW face of Pete's North above treeline, some showing impressive propagation.
.5 - 2mm facets on a crystal card, the weak layer that failed with a lot of oomph in the pit above. As seen in the cluster of snow grains on the left of the photo, some of these grains are prior melt forms, and are clustered together... but they are fragile to the touch, and showing signs of faceting as well.
Pete's North still has a tricky approach, with alders that range from 1 - 2.5 Emma's tall that impede easy travel...