Turnagain Pass

Many wet loose avalanches occurred both yesterday afternoon/evening and Wednesday due to the surface of the snowpack warming, melting and loosing its cohesion. On Bird Ridge, just outside of our forecast area and in Chugach State Park, there was a wet slab avalanche triggered by a hiker yesterday. The hiker was reported as OK (photo below). Once the warm weather returns, this is a good reminder of springtime avalanches and how easy it can be to find oneself in a bad spot.

Hiker triggered wet slab avalanche on the SW face of Bird Ridge yesterday, just off the main hiking trail. Hiker was reported to have been carried around 100′ and able to self rescue. 3.26.20. Photo: Anonymous.

Wet loose avalanche on the SE face of Seattle Ridge releasing from snow heating up around rock/trees at the top of the slope. 3.26.20.

Wet loose avalanches on Magnum’s west face. These occurred Wednesday 3.25.20. 

This morning, temperatures have dropped into the 20’s°F at most locations and elevations. This has locked up and frozen any wet or moist snow that existed yesterday and a stout crust can be expected capping the snowpack. With a cool northwest breeze slated to remain through the day pushing in even cooler air, along with some cloud cover limiting solar heating, the surface crusts aren’t expected to soften much. This should greatly limit any wet snow avalanche issues. That said, if a southerly slope does happen to receive enough sun and warmth this afternoon to melt the surface crusts, then wet avalanche activity is possible and it’s time to head to a shady aspect. If hunting for and finding dry surface snow on the higher shady aspects, watch for lingering wind slabs in steep rocky terrain.

Glide avalanches:  Watch for glide cracks! What is still possible today despite the freezing of the snowpack is a glide avalanche. There were a few glide cracks yesterday that released into avalanches and one of these can be seen from Girdwood on Raggedtop (photo below). Glides are completely unpredictable and have been known to also release when temperatures cool.

Glide release occurred 3.26.20.

As we have been mentioning for some time, the south end of Turnagain Pass and the Summit Lake zone have a very different snowpack that is much shallower and harbors weak faceted snow in the mid and base of the pack. Caution is warranted in this area on steep slopes that still have dry snow. Watch for old wind slabs on facets or simply a stiffer layer of snow over weak looser snow. The cool temperatures should greatly limit this type of avalanche, but it is still worth keeping in mind. Slopes that were wet and now sport a hard surface crust will have low avalanche danger.