| Trigger | Natural | Remote Trigger | 0 |
| Avalanche Type | Soft Slab | Aspect | Southwest |
| Elevation | 3000ft | Slope Angle | unknown |
| Crown Depth | unknown | Width | unknown |
| Vertical Run | unknown |
Avalanche: Turnagain
Location: Turnagain Pass Road Observation
Drove from Girdwood to Johnson Pass. Visibility improved while driving through the pass and was able to see new D1-D2 avalanche activity from overnight and from the last few days. Overnight there were several new glide avalanches, two new large (D2) piles of wet avalanche debris on E. side of Seattle Ridge, and could see recent crowns on Tincan SW aspect. I also observed a sun triggered storm slab between 3pm and 3:30pm on the SW face of Tincan around 3000′. See photos below.
Avalanche Details
SS-N-R1-D1.5 - SW aspect of Tincan, East of Hippy Bowl, occurred between 3pm and 3:30pm, likely trigger was the rapid warming from the sun, which just started to hit that aspect at 3pm. See photos below.
Obvious signs of instability
| Recent Avalanches? | Yes |
| Collapsing (Whumphing)? | No |
| Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | No |
Observer Comments
Recent avalanche activity due to a saturated snowpack in the mid elevation band and recent glide avalanches. Sun triggered storm slab in the upper elevations. In addition to the avalanches listed above there were many small (D1) loose snow avalanche in channeled terrain along Seattle Ridge, and loose snow avalanches on Magnum's W face, and Lipps W face.
Weather
Visibility dramatically improved between 2:30pm and 3pm with patches of clear skies and sun
Temps: 36F along Turnagain Pass road
Light winds: 10-15mph
Moderat rain at Ingram Creek, and light rain at Johnson Pass Trail head, otherwise no precip
Snow surface
Wet saturated snow along the road. 3-6" of standing water mixed with slush in Center Ridge and Motorized parking lots
Snowpack
N/A
Sun trigged storm slab on a SW aspect of Tincan ~3000' with several older storm slab crowns to looker right
Recent wet debris on the East face of Seattle Ridge, South end near Bertha Creek
Recent wet debris on the East face of Seattle Ridge, South end near Bertha Creek camp ground
Storm slab on a NNE aspect near Lynx Creek, viewed from Johnson Pass Trail Head
Glide releas on Seattle Ridge, North side of the Pass, across from Eddies parking
Today you could see an old snow machine track that runs directly under recent glide avalanche debris. This glide was first seen yesterday, 2-27-16, from the moto lot
A many layers of old storm debris from over the last week can be seen on an East aspect of Seattle Ridge today, pic taken from Center Ridge parking lot.
Several old piles of debris on Eddies, a common skin track route often perceived as safe, but is in the runout of the steeper terrain above.
Wet slab on Seattle Ridge (NE aspect) was seen yesterday in the same location. Pic taken from Ingram Creek area near Turnagain Arm
Extreme rain runnels at Center Ridge