Avalanche risk in Turnagain Pass is especially high right now, the Chugach Avalanche Center said in an advisory announcement Friday, and travel through backcountry terrain is not recommended.
Wendy Wagner, the director and forecaster at the center, said conditions are supposed to be just as dangerous Saturday.
She said the Summit Lake, Snug Harbor and Cooper Landing areas are in optimal avalanche condition this weekend.
“We know those areas also have a weak snowpack,” Wagner said Friday. “It’s safe to assume that all those mountains in the central Kenai are dangerous.”
She said forecasters in the field Friday reported multiple large avalanches in the pass that occurred over the past few days.
Thursday’s conditions were also high, the advisory from the center stated, as a result of heavy snowfall and strong winds. The caution is also in effect in the mountains surrounding Turnagain Pass, Girdwood and Portage Valleys.
The Anchorage Daily News reported on a football-field-sized avalanche in residential Eagle River Friday morning — which left snow debris from 60- to 80-feet deep. Wagner said some of the avalanches in Turnagain Pass the last few days have been similar in size.
“We’ve seen large avalanches in the Turnagain Pass area, but they’re all in the backcountry,” she said.
Because there are no structures, none in the pass have caused imminent danger to people’s homes.
Wagner said the recent warm weather storm has been “interesting” in the backcountry, and reiterated that even when it’s sunny with blue skies, the risk could be high.
“It’s the time to avoid avalanche terrain,” she said.
The Chugach Avalanche Center publishes avalanche forecasts on the agency’s Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as its website at chugachavalanche.org.
Reach reporter Camille Botello at camille.botello@peninsulaclarion.com.
