Observation: Turnagain

Location: Turnagain Road Obs

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Spent most of the day along the Turnagain Road corridor. It was raining in the morning and visibility was limited. Despite the poor weather in the morning we had a good turn out for the January Rescue clinic. In the afternoon the skies broke briefly and visibility was good on the Southern side of the Pass. We observed some small wet point releases below 2000′ and a few very small wind slabs at about 3000′. None were big enough to bury a person. See photos below.

Could see lots of small glide cracks scattered along Seattle Ridge, both North and South. Did not observe any recent glide releases… however visibility on the North side of Turnagain Pass was limited at best.

Red Flags
Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.
Observer Comments

No big signs of instability were observed from the road level. Several very small point releases (~2000') were seen on cliff features on Pete's South and two very tiny fresh wind slabs were on Southeastern ridges across the street from Johnson Pass (~3000'.)

Weather & Snow Characteristics
Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.
Weather

Light winds along road
Moderate to Light rain becoming scattered snow showers in the afternoon
Temps - 36F in AM and 32F at 3pm

Snow surface

1000' - Crust has become soft and wet and snow was not supportable, except in places where the snow has been compacted like on the motorized flats near parking lot. Great conditions to practice beacon searches!

Photos & Video
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