Huntington Ravine has CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger today. Natural avalanches are possible and and human triggered avalanches are probable. Unstable slabs are probable in steep terrain. Be increasingly cautious in steeper terrain. The only exception to this is the Escape Hatch which has Low avalanche danger. Natural avalanches are very unlikely and human triggered avalanches are unlikely except in isolated pockets. Normal caution is advised.

I think today is going to be an interesting day. Snow began falling on Mt. Washington around 4 pm yesterday afternoon and continued through the night. The Summit and Hermit Lake recorded 5.4" (13.7 cm) of new snow. While the lower mountain received a mix of precipitation creating a wet upper layer in the snowpack, from Hermit Lake on up it remained all snow. With that said, it is pretty heavy with a density of 17.7% at Hermit Lake. A cold front will move in today and we will see the snow taper to snow showers with limited additional accumulation. Winds are going to shift from the W to the NW and rapidly increase to 75 to 100 mph (120 to 161 kph) with higher gusts on the summits. This is going to create white out conditions on the mountain and move a lot of snow into the Ravines. With the amount of snow available for transport, expect most areas to be at the upper end of the Considerable rating due to the possibility of natural avalanche activity. As winds exceed 100 mph, some areas may become more prone to scouring than loading but until then slab development will be occurring. Expect increasing avalanche danger in all forecast areas today with natural avalanches being possible in all areas posted at Considerable.

An active weather pattern will continue to bring hopes of snow to the mountains. A weak disturbance will move south of us tomorrow but may still give us a couple inches of snow as it passes. The real buzz in town is the developing storm that may give us a significant winter storm starting Saturday night and lasting into Sunday. The models are indicating that this could be a good storm for us. I am trying not to get excited yet as we all know how much the weather in New England changes. We will keep you posted on this system as it progresses. Keep your weekend plans flexible.

By now you've probably waxed your skis, sharpened your ice axes, refreshed your knowledge of stability assessment, and practiced your rescue skills. No matter how experienced we all are these skills fade with time. Now is the time to hone those skills. Your lives depend on it! We have all the avalanche courses offered in the valley this winter on our website, tuckerman.org.

The John Sherburne Ski Trail is open, with continuous snow from top to bottom. Many large waterbars and exposed rocks make this a challenging early season ski. The Lion Head Summer Trail is currently open. The change to the Winter Route will occur when snow conditions warrant. We'll let you know of the change when it takes place.