Avalanche forecast

Turnagain Pass and Girdwood

Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 2 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Our main concern remains the continued glide avalanche activity throughout the area. These avalanches are large, destructive, and unpredictable. The only way to manage this problem is to avoid traveling below open glide cracks whenever possible. The passing storm system may bring a trace to an inch of snow to our area, which is not expected to change the avalanche conditions.

Avalanche problems

  • Glide Cracks

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–3

    We are seeing an unusually active glide cycle, even by our standards. Pay attention to the slopes above you as you're traveling in the mountains, and avoid spending any time under open glide cracks. If your route requires traversing below a glide crack, be sure to travel quickly and only expose one person at a time to the overhead hazard. In addition to the glide problem, there may still be isolated pockets of unstable snow in steep, wind-loaded terrain. However, it has been several days since the last known avalanche occurred and it is unlikely a person will trigger one until we get a major loading event.

    There is a weak system passing through today, but the impacts on our forecast area are expected to be minimal. We may see a trace to an inch or two of snow, with westerly winds averaging 5-10 mph and gusting 10-20 mph. This will do little to change the current avalanche conditions. We continue to monitor active glide cracks from Turnagain Pass to Summit Lake. This includes glide avalanches releasing as well as glide cracks slowly opening up. In many cases we've seen cracks open up in popular ski runs, splitting open recently laid ski tracks and skin tracks. 

    (11/24/2024)

    Multiple glide cracks and one old glide avalanche in a very heavily tracked Main Bowl on the back side of Seattle Ridge. Notice the cracks on the right side of the frame that have split open recent ski tracks.

Regions covered