Glides, glides, everywhere there are glides! Saw 3 glide cracks I'd classify on the larger side that have released over the last few days (Lipps, Seattle ridge and Skookum). Countless others are littered throughout the Turnagain pass zone with an xtra large glide crack visible from the highway if you look up (lookers left) into Tincan trees. Steer clear of this and all glide cracks for that matter!
Observation: Turnagain
Location: Seattle ridge
T Pass moto lot to Seattle ridge weather station via common uptrack then ridge North.
Observer Comments
Weather
Warm. 36 degrees at 1K. Sustained winds 15-20mph on the ridge from the east. Visibility was broken, in and out but mostly out.
Snow surface
At 1K: Surface is very moist and not supportable with boot pen.
At 1700': Thin breakable ice lens that crowns the very moist snowpack.
Above 1800': Wind packed, dense powder slowly drying out with elevation. Snow surface is damp up to ~2300'.
Snowpack
Informal snowmachine stability tests on small wind lips (no consequence terrain) showed a very low energy snowpack with minimal cracking. No obvious signs of instability observed. Though intense precip rates yesterday afternoon, observations today are pointing toward a snowpack that is gaining strength quickly.
This large glide crack could be seen today from the highway, lookers left in Tincan trees. There are a lot of glide cracks in the Turnagain zone right now, but perhaps none as obvious as this one.
Wind scouring and loading on N aspects of Sunburst and Magnum as seen from Seattle ridge.
Wendy Wagner, 'Jill of all trades.'
Center/ Divide creek crossing situation on the way to Johnson Pass, from the North trailhead.