Large wet slab above Bertha creek campground
Wet activity on east-facing Seattle Ridge.
Artifically triggered avalanche in the Summit Lake region. Photo: DOT
Observation: Turnagain
Location: Seattle Ridge
Lots of avalanche activity today in the forecast zone. A drive through
Turnagain Pass and you’ll be impressed with the amount of avalanche activity on
the east face of Seattle ridge. Glides and point releases have been pulling out
over the last several days. Today we stepped it up a notch with several natural
wet slabs breaking into deeper faceted layers, ripping to the ground.
Many of these appear to be initiating with small point releases high on the
slope. More and more snow becomes entrained until a fracture propagates and
pulls out a dangerous slab.
AK Department of Transportation also had impressive results with
artillery-induced avalanches in the Summit Lake region today. DOT forecasters
were easily triggering large class 3 avalanches in deep faceted layers. These
were propagating long distances, running fast and far.