Observation: Turnagain

Location: Sunburst and Portage Valley area

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Weather:
Quite windy and mostly cloudy/obscured. 8″ of new snow from overnight in
Turnagain parking lots and 10-12″ at 3,000′. A brief break in cloud cover
mid-day allowed for a bit of visibility. Socked in again and began to snow
lightly by 3pm. Wind was moderate to strong and mainly from the east.

Signs of instability:
Recent avalanches – A few images of natural avalanches and one artillery
triggered from 2/26 below. Naturals likely occurred late in the evening on 2/25
or early in the morning on 2/26. All seem to be relegated to the storm snow from
the night of 2/25.

Turnagain natural avalanches seen:
Sunburst – SW, 3,500′, ~2ft deep and 100′ wide
Tincan, Hippie bowl – SW, 3,300′, 1-2ft deep and 150+’ wide

Portage/Girdwood areas:
Kern #3 (artillery triggered near Kern Creek along Seward hwy)- S, ~2,500′, 1-3′
deep and ~200′ wide
Williwaw (natural above Williwaw campground) – N, ~2,000′, 1-3?’ deep
Bird Ridge – Widespread wet loose induced by sun in the afternoon. These were
relatively small point releases confined to the top 6″ or so of snow.

Surface conditions:
Wind affected snow and punchy turning conditions. It seemed the Seattle Ridge
side of the Pass may have been spared a little of the damage. Below 1,500′ snow
was damp and upside down.

Concerns:
Fresh wind slabs. Did not trigger any but did not tease the cat too much either.

Photos & Video
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