Turnagain Pass and Girdwood

Lawinenprobleme

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  Wind Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Hochgebirge
  • Waldgrenze
  • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze

  Wahrscheinlichkeit

  Possible

  Größe

  1–2

  Recent Avalanches: There were skier-triggered avalanches on  Captain's Chair in the Lynx Creek drainage on Tuesday, and on Notch Mountain in Girdwood on Wednesday. Both of these likely failed on a weak layer of faceted snow buried roughly 1 to 1.5' deep by last week's storm.

  Northwest winds picked up overnight and are expected to remain elevated throughout the day today with averages of 5 to 15 mph and gusts up to 35 mph. With a substantial amount of loose snow on the surface, these winds could form wind slabs very quickly on leeward aspects. Expect to find wind slabs around 1' deep at upper elevations near ridgelines and convex features that are accumulating wind-drifted snow. To identify locations with wind slabs, you can look for shooting cracks on the snow surface, hollow feeling pillows of snow, or use test slopes to check how reactive wind drifts are to the weight of a skier or rider. 

  In addition, last week's storm fell onto a layer of faceted snow in some locations that produced wider propagating avalanches in Girdwood and Lynx Creek. That setup seems to be isolated to wind-sheltered locations and could still cause human-triggered avalanches around 1' deep. There has been a lot of traffic in steep terrain in the past week with minimal avalanche activity, so we think this problem is unlikely but still worth keeping on our radar. 

  Dry loose avalanches in steep terrain are also likely today and could run faster than normal due to the cold temperatures causing the loose surface snow to turn into facets. These are typically not large enough to bury a person, but they can knock you off your feet in steep terrain.