Turnagain Pass and Girdwood

It is unlikely, but not impossible, that a person will trigger a slab avalanche today. Conditions are generally stable, but it is always important to practice safe travel protocol when traveling in steep terrain. This means exposing one person at a time to steeper slopes, watching partners from safe spots outside of avalanche runout zones, and having an exit route planned in case you find an unlucky pocket where you can trigger an avalanche. Dry loose avalanches are running fast and easy to trigger, so sluff management will be important if you are getting into steep terrain.

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.

The weather will remain quiet today, and we are not expecting much to change with avalanche conditions. Dry Loose avalanches (sluffs) are the main concern, which means surface conditions are soft and overall stability is good. This is what we like to see! But it doesn't mean we're avalanche-proof.

Last week's storm buried a layer of weak, faceted snow that hasn't produced a large avalanche since Tuesday (details here), but may remain lurking in isolated pockets — especially in Girdwood and Lynx Creek. At this point we have seen hundreds of tracks in steep terrain with no issues, and it is unlikely that we will see avalanches today. However, there is always a chance that you may find an unlucky pocket where you could still trigger an avalanche.

If you are traveling in steep terrain, it's always a good idea to practice safe travel practices to build in margins for error. This includes traveling one at a time on steep slopes, watching your partners from safe places outside of runout zones, planning an escape route if a slope releases, and managing fast-moving sluffs in steep terrain.

We're expecting a slight increase in winds tonight through tomorrow. That will likely build a fresh round of wind slabs in the alpine. Watch for active loading if those winds arrive sooner than expected, and avoid traveling in steep terrain with freshly wind-drifted snow on the surface.