| Trigger | Skier | Remote Trigger | No |
| Avalanche Type | Soft Slab | Aspect | North Northwest |
| Elevation | 3500ft | Slope Angle | 38deg |
| Crown Depth | 6in | Width | 10ft |
| Vertical Run | 300ft |
Avalanche: Turnagain
Location: Taylor Pass/Pastoral
We toured up to Pastoral in search of cold, dry snow and found what we were looking for on high northerly aspects. Surfaces were barely supportable crusts on most aspects up to around 2000′, dry but firm windblown snow on some higher elevation northerly aspects, and soft snow on isolated northerly slopes above 2500-3000′ or so. Our main concern was hunting for instabilities within the new snow from this week. We triggered two small wind slabs in steep northerly terrain, but saw very few signs of recent activity within that new snow.
Ski quality was variable throughout the day, but there is definitely still good snow to be found out there. The lingering concerns over the 3/14 layer kept our objectives modest, but we did feel comfortable enough to ski some steeper terrain that did not have any serious terrain traps back near Pastoral and just above Taylor Pass.
Avalanche Details
We triggered two small wind slabs in steep northerly terrain just above Taylor Pass. These were 2-6" deep and 5-10' wide.
Obvious signs of instability
| Recent Avalanches? | Yes |
| Collapsing (Whumphing)? | No |
| Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | No |
Observer Comments
Nothing beyond the two small wind slabs we triggered.
Weather
Cloud cover was super variable and chaning quickly. We enjoyed several stretches of mostly sunny skies, but clouds were in and out and made for challenging travel several times throughout the day. Air temps were warm but a light breeze kept surfaces cool while we were out.
Snow surface
Surfaces were variable. High elevation northerly slopes were still holding cold dry snow, but most everything else had some sort of barely supportable to breakable crust on the surface.
Snowpack
Our main concern was at the interface between this week's snow and the older snow surface. We did not dig any pits while we traveled, but did take the time to do a lot of travel tests to assess as we toured around. The newest wind slabs were reactive on some isolated terrain features, but we saw very few signs of unstable snow.
Recent natural wet loose activity on a southwest aspect around 3000', most likely from yesterday afternoon. 04.28.2023
Large rollerballs on a west-northwest aspect at around 2500'. This was a few days old. 04.28.2023
Debris from a natural loose snow avalanche (right) and small skier-triggered wind slab (left). North-northwest slope, 3500' elevation. 04.28.2023
Recent glide avalanche on the south end of Seattle Ridge, just above the Bertha Creek campground. 04.28.2023