Turnagain Pass

With the cooler temperatures yesterday, the afternoon sun was only able to trigger a few wet loose slides in steep southerly terrain. Otherwise, it was a fairly quiet day in the backcountry.

Wet loose avalanches from the past two evenings on a NW facing slope in the Lost Lake area. As the sun gets higher it’s harder and harder to find dry snow on northerlies. 4.22.23. 

An unseasonably cold weather system is pushing through today that brought chilly overnight temperatures and a few inches of snow this morning. As of 6am around 3-4″ of snow has fallen in Girdwood Valley, 4-6″ in Portage Valley, 2-4″ at Turnagain Pass, and what looks like just a trace in Summit Lake. Snow level is at sea level but could rise slightly this afternoon. Ridgetop winds are fairly light, around 5-10mph, but from all directions; above 3,500’ish they are NE while mid and lower elevations are more westerly.

All that said, with such small snow amounts the only new avalanche problem might be small wind slabs at the high elevations. These would be in the 4-8″ deep range depending on how much snow falls and should not pack much of a punch. The new snow is falling mostly on crusts and if an area sees over 4-5″ then shallow sluffs should be expected. This afternoon, small wet avalanches may again occur in the low elevations, below 1,000′, with daytime warming.

The main problem that could wreck our day is still the unlikely chance someone triggers another deep slab. Hence, why this remains ‘Problem 1’ despite a few inches of new snow. Once skies clear enough to access the higher terrain, we really want to be sure everyone seeking the last remnants of dry powder on shaded slopes understands there are lurking old weak layers. The Big League avalanche was a sore reminder that old weak layers just can never totally be trusted. Unfortunately there is no way to accurately assess this problem in the field. For those that don’t want to mess with it, avoiding big steep slopes and steep rocky terrain is the only option.

MONDAY:  If the sun comes out tomorrow any new snow that heats up will easily sluff off the frozen crusts that cover most of the surfaces on steeper slopes. Again, with only a few inches of new snow these should be fairly small sluffs.

General Springtime Hazards:  Other hazards associated with the spring melt cycle include cornice fall and glide avalanche release, which are both very unpredictable and can produce large avalanches. We recommend minimizing time spent underneath large cornices or glide cracks.

A few inches of snow to sea level this Sunday morning. This is the RWIS Portage Curve camera, 7am April 23rd. Gap winds are blowing along Turnagain Arm, but fairly quiet in the mountains.