Avalanche

Seattle Ridge

Andrew SchauerTurnagain Pass
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Quick report

I squeezed in a quick tour this afternoon to take advantage of a return to winter. I dug several hand pits along the way (2000', 2400', and 2900'). They all looked very similar, with anywhere from 4 to 8 inches of new snow sitting on top of a ~2" thick supportable crust. The rest of the snowpack was moist to wet, with the wettest snow right at the ground. 

The only signs of avalanches related to the new snow that I noticed were multiple dry loose avalanches in steep terrain at the top of Zero Bowl, and a large section of cornice that fell and entrained a lot of snow across the road in Hippie Bowl, but did not trigger a slab avalanche. There were old chunks of cornice debris in Zero Bowl and Warmup Bowl, but it had quite a bit of new snow on top of it.

Continued glide avalanche activity across Turnagain Pass (Wolverine, Eddie's, front side Seattle Ridge). No major activity from what I saw in Main Bowl, Zero Bowl, and Warmup Bowl. Some cornice debris had been blown in. One big cornice fall in Hippy Bowl on Tincan Ridge entrained a lot of snow and gouged down into the snowpack, but did not trigger any kind of slab avalanche.

Weather

Cloud Cover
few
Wind Loading
moderate
Rain Elevation
1500
Recent Snowfall
15
Snow Avail For Transport
moderate amounts

Calm, clear, and cool. It feels very nice having winter back.

Snowpack

Nightmarish coral reef up to around 1500'. Decent travel above that and downright good skiing by 1600' or so. 4-8" new snow on a supportable crust that was about 2" thick. The rest of the snowpack (2-3' deep) was moist to wet, with the wettest snow right on the ground.

Avalanche

Size
D2.5 R1
Type
HS
Aspect
S
Trigger
N
Elevation
2500 ft

Continued very active glide activity at Turnagain Pass. Six new glide avalanches occurred after the snow finished last night.