Bulletin d’avalanche

Turnagain Pass and Girdwood

Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center
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Danger d’avalanche

Sat
Alpin
3 · Marqué
Limite forestière
3 · Marqué
Sous la limite
2 · Modéré
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Périmé — ce bulletin a expiré 8 months ago. Vous consultez des conditions passées, pas le bulletin en cours.

Points saillants

The avalanche danger is expected to increase today as a storm impacts the forecast area starting this afternoon and ramping up overnight.  The new snow and building winds will add stress to buried weak layers about 1 to 1.5' deep, increasing the likelihood of a person triggering an avalanche. As the storm progresses overnight, natural avalanches will become likely.  Pay attention to changing conditions.  Sticking to lower-angle terrain without overhead hazard will be the best way to manage the current avalanche problems.

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory in effect from Friday afternoon until midnight Saturday.  

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Likely
    Taille
    1–2.5

    Recent avalanches: There was a snowboard triggered avalanche on the backside of Seattle Ridge yesterday on the shoulder of Junior's Bowl/2nd Bowl, large enough to bury a person. No one was caught, but the slide remotely triggered another slide on the adjacent slope. On Wednesday, a small natural wind slab was observed on the front side of Seattle Ridge, and a handful of shallow natural avalanches were observed in the Girdwood Valley.

    We have been talking about buried weak snow for quite a while now, and the potential for a person to trigger an avalanche, but there hasn't been quite enough of a slab for a widespread natural avalanche cycle. The storm on our doorstep today may bring enough precipitation and wind to load up the snowpack and cause large natural avalanches. The storm is forecast to arrive this afternoon and really impact the region overnight. It will be important to pay attention to changing conditions while out in the mountains today, and expect the avalanche danger to increase as snowfall and winds pick up.  The new snow will also be heavier than the previous low-density snow that fell in the last couple of storms. This will increase the potential for storm instabilities.

    Poor snowpack structure with buried weak faceted snow has been documented across all of our forecast zones, and there have been multiple observations of large collapses in the treeline elevation band from 1000' to 2500'. Avalanches may be remotely triggered, and it will be important to keep an eye out for collapsing and cracking today. These are signs that the snowpack is unstable.  Stiffer snow over softer/weaker snow is also an indication of a dangerous setup. Choose slopes to travel on carefully, avoiding terrain traps and using safe travel protocol. 

    Wind Slabs: Easterly winds have been blowing in the teens and gusting into the 20s since yesterday. Look for fresh wind slabs along ridgelines and cross-loading in gully features. A fresh wind slab has the potential to step down and trigger an avalanche on the buried weak snow. 

    (1/8/2026)

    Snowboard triggered an avalanche on the shoulder of Junior's Bowl, releasing onto Junior's face.  The observer noticed a remote-triggered secondary slide, located left of the slide when viewing from the bottom of the bowl. 

Régions couvertes