Turnagain Pass

We’ve received great info from a Level 3 avalanche class that has been conducting fieldwork in both Turnagain pass and Summit Lake area over the last several days.  Students yesterday found a generally strong snowpack with shallow, stubborn wind slabs on Seattle ridge (Sunny side) that would not propagate under a skier’s weight.  Across the road where moderate westerly winds have not been so destructive the surface consisted of 2-4” of near surface facets capped by growing surface hoar yesterday.  Below the surface data and a lack of avalanche activity continues to validate the high strength, low propagation potential in the Turnagain pass area.

In terms of moving through the mountains today, any pockets of instabilities observed should be relegated to the upper 3-6” of the snowpack and will likely be in the form of older, shallow wind slabs on leeward slopes.  Look for these pockets of denser snow and be mindful of your terrain choices, weighing the consequences of popping off a shallow wind slab.  This will be particularly important in steep, (greater than 40 degrees) upper elevations where you may be exposed to terrain traps below.  If we receive more than 4” of snow today and winds kick up enough to actively transport snow, expect shallow wind slabs (5-10”) to be more reactive to human triggers.  

With a few inches of snow in the forecast, any new wind slabs could also prove problematic to ice climbers exposed to funneled terrain in areas such as Portage Valley.

Glide avalanches are still littered throughout the forecast area and with a bit of a warm-up today we’ll be keeping an eye on any glide crack movement or release.  Your best bet remains to limit your time spent underneath glide cracks, as they remain an unpredictable beast.

Glide cracks and glide avalanches (already released) litter the South and West aspects of Eddies.  

  photo: Jaime Andersen

Low snow coverage:

Below 2000’ low snow coverage is deceiving with only a few inches of new snow covering rocks, ice and vegetation. Take your time getting in and out of the alpine today.