Turnagain Pass and Girdwood

Problèmes avalancheux

• 

  Persistent Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière

  Probabilité

  Possible

  Taille

  2–3

  Recent Avalanches: On Saturday, there were three remotely triggered avalanches in the upper Seattle Creek area. The party that reported them said they were all triggered independently on wind-loaded slopes with some faceted snow underneath. As far as they could tell, they were from fresh wind loading and not related to the layers of buried surface hoar we have been tracking. 

  We have a couple of different types of weak layers in the upper snowpack right now that could cause human-triggered avalanches 1 to 3' deep. These include a layer of faceted snow that was buried by the recent wind loading on Friday and Saturday, which could still be reactive to the weight of a skier or rider. This is likely the type of avalanche that was triggered in Seattle Creek on Saturday. You can keep an eye out for recently wind-loaded slopes to identify where these weak layers could be concerning and test how sensitive they are using small test slopes or hand pits.

  The second type of weak layer we are dealing with is three different generations of buried surface hoar from November. These are buried up to 3' deep and based on our recent observations, have become less sensitive to human triggering during this long cold spell. Despite the lack of recent concerning test results on these layers, it is still possible they could cause an avalanche. It takes a long time for layers like this to gain strength, and often they can linger in thin spots in the snowpack or on slopes that have not seen any traffic. You can always stick to simple, low-angle terrain and avoid terrain traps to hedge your bets. 

  Wind slabs: Some areas within the forecast zones will see higher winds today, like along Turnagain Arm, the higher alpine peaks around Girdwood, and near Seward. These areas could see fresh wind slabs up to 1'+ deep forming today. Keep an eye out for active wind loading to identify where these fresh wind slabs could cause natural or human-triggered avalanches. 

• 

  Glide Cracks

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière

  Probabilité

  Possible

  Taille

  2–3

  Glide avalanches are still a major concern throughout the forecast area. These are a very unpredictable type of avalanche that can cause very large avalanches involving the whole snowpack. Glide cracks can form quickly, in a matter of minutes to hours, and cause avalanches even when a crack was not visible before. 

  The best we can do to mitigate this hazard is to minimize our time underneath them and stay aware of whether there are open glide cracks on the slopes above. If you need to travel underneath them, you can always go one at a time to limit the exposure of your group.