Turnagain Pass

It has been a week since we had any report of human triggered avalanche activity and observers are not reporting signs of instability. As a mostly calm, clear and cold weather pattern dominates our area and continues into next week, we are in the “normal caution” phase of avalanche issues. These include:

1- Triggering an outlier avalanche. This would most likely be an ‘unsupported slab’ that sits above a cliff or steep rocky terrain. More specifics below in the concerns.

2- Triggering a cornice fall. The cornices maybe be small right now, but they are large enough to take you down somewhere you don’t want to go. As always, give them a wide berth.

3- Sluffs on steep slopes. These have yet to have been observed as a problem but as the surface becomes weaker under clear skies the potential will increase. 

Remember LOW hazard doesn’t mean NO hazard! It is still important to look for signs of instability and use good travel techniques. 

Even with LOW avalanche danger it is still important to remember the weak layer 1-2′ below the surface i.e. the notorious Nov 16th buried surface hoar. Although we have not seen an avalanche release in this layer since last Saturday and the slab character has been changing due to the cold temperatures, there are many slopes away from the ‘popular’ zones that have yet to be tested. These are the areas most suspect over the weekend. Finding the spot that harbors this weak layer, still has a slab and hasn’t been skied or slid already still could be dangerous… Triggering is unlikely but not impossible! 

 Buried surface hoar in a pit on Sunburst, December 6th. SW, 3200′

Several wind events over the last two weeks have formed wind slabs near and below ridgetops on a variety of aspects.  Old stiff supportable wind slabs in thin rocky areas may pop once you are out onto the slab. Be wary of hard over soft snow, hollow sounds and steep slopes with obvious deposition in the start zone.