Turnagain Pass and Girdwood

Avalanche problems

• 

  Storm Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpine
  • Treeline
  • Below treeline

  Likelihood

  Likely

  Size

  1.5–3

  Recent avalanches: Another large slab avalanche released sometime early yesterday on the east face of Pyramid (pictured below). It is difficult to tell if it was a big storm slab, or if it broke in a buried weak layer, or what is most likely it was a wet slab as it released low on the slope where wet snow/rain has been falling for a week now. Another recent avalanches was a large slab from Friday that released on the north side of CFR Ridge on Tincan.  

  A powerful storm moved in yesterday and will continue to impact the region today and should quickly exit tomorrow morning. Very strong easterly winds have been ravaging the hills and as you can see in the video the wind was getting down into the trees as well. We are about midway in the storm now. Snowfall totals are below, but Turnagain Pass seems to be the winner so far in this event. Snow had been falling to sea level but the storm is warming for the second half and the rain/snow line should creep up to 1,500' and even higher in places by this afternoon. Another foot of snow is expected through today above the rain.

  Estimated storm totals from Saturday morning to 4am Sunday morning.

  • Girdwood-   4-8"
  • Turnagain-  10-14"
  • Summit-  1" snow
  • Lost Lake-  8" snow

  With so much going on in the snowpack there really are a wide variety of avalanche problems. It is safe to assume there have been many large natural avalanches that occured overnight that should continue today. 

  Wind slabs and Cornices:  Sticky new snow and strong winds are the best ingredients for wind slabs and cornices. These types of avalanches are likely to be occuring in the mid and upper elevations. Cornices triggering slabs below are also a pretty sure bet. 

  Wet Avalanches:  As the rain line creeps up we can expect to see wet avalanches as rain falls on new snow. These types of avalanches would be very easy for a person to trigger as well. They could be in the form of a wet loose avalanche that fans out, or a wet slab. The snowpack is primed with wet and soft snow grains under the 3-4' or so of snow from the past 9 days. This means it may not take too much rain to get some large wet avalanches in the mid elevations. 

  All that said, it's a good day to avoid being in avalanche terrain.

• 

  Deep Persistent Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpine
  • Treeline
  • Below treeline

  Likelihood

  Possible

  Size

  2–3

  The surface hoar that was buried on Valentine's Day is now 4' deep or deeper in Turnagain Pass. It will be interesting to see if this storm will be able to overload any slopes that were capable of avalanching on this buried surface hoar. If it did that would tell us this weak layer is still reactive. This east face of Pyramid could be suspect for releasing on this weak layer, but it could also be a wet slab. These can be tough to discern from afar. In short, it's still a tricky situation but for now it's HIGH danger so simply avoiding avalanche terrain is the answer. 

  

• 

  Glide Cracks

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpine
  • Treeline
  • Below treeline

  Likelihood

  Possible

  Size

  2–3

  Glide avalanches continue to release across our forecast zones. These avalanches are running into the treeline elevation band, so places that have been relatively snow-free this year may not be if one these pushes debris onto summer trails for example. As we have been saying all year, steer clear from being under glide cracks.