Huntington Ravine has Moderate avalanche danger today. Natural avalanches are unlikely and human triggered avalanches are possible. Use caution in steep terrain.

Yesterday we took a walk around Tuckerman Ravine, with our focus being what today's potential rain will do to the snowpack. We gathered good information about the snowpack across a lot of terrain. The biggest question mark in our heads at the end of the day was how much rain would it take to trigger avalanches given what we were seeing? Well, just to keep us on our toes, today that question seems less relevant. It appears as though we're in store for more freezing rain than liquid rain. Temperatures on the Summit are currently well below freezing, and with the passage of a cold front expected in the early afternoon, our chances for receiving liquid precipitation are quickly fading. Whereas our initial thoughts were related to free water percolating down through the snowpack, our concerns now have us looking at things in a different light. Two things are going to be happening today. First, the newly deposited freezing rain will be adding additional load to previously existing slabs. Yesterday morning the sun was cooking a lot of energy out of the snowpack, but it wasn't sufficient in most locations for it to bake all the way down to the old crust. Below where the sun was able to penetrate, older stiffer slabs are lingering on top of the old crust. With the liquid equivalents we are expecting today, I don't think this will be enough load or percolation to bring ratings up to where they are currently posted. This is where the second factor comes into play. As the cold front passes through, precipitation will change over to snow and winds will shift from S to W and increase in speed. It's possible that we'll squeeze a couple inches out of the air before it tapes off later tonight. Just a couple inches of snow with increasing winds shifting S to W gives us the possibility of natural avalanche activity. There is also the chance that a smaller new snow avalanche could step down into deeper slabs. It will be important today to keep an eye on how much and what type of precipitation is falling. If the forecasts are off and we end up with a soaking rain, or if the cold front passes sooner and drops more snow than expected, avalanche danger will be on the rise.

In Tuckerman, the areas of greatest concern are the Lip, Headwall, Bowl, and Hillman's. In contrast to Left Gully which has similar aspects as the Headwall and Hillman's, these areas held more new snow and deeper slabs over the past several days. Left Gully is posted at Moderate, and is a good example of how under this rating there can be areas to be concerned with. First, just to get to the gully you're passing through the runout of several avalanche paths that are rated Considerable today. Second, the start zone can be expected to receive loading during snowfall today, especially on the climber's right side from W winds. In general Huntington Ravine has much less snow in the gullies than over in Tuckerman. South, Odell, and Central gullies do have more snow in them than the others, and with the onset of snow this afternoon they will receive additional loading. Further over into the northern gullies, it will take longer for new snow to develop into slabs.

In addition to your waterproof shells today, we recommend bringing crampons and an ice axe and having solid self arrest skills if you plan on traveling in steep terrain, including the Lion Head Winter Route. Many areas have large expanses of bulletproof old surface that resembles alpine ice. Sliding falls on this surface are not one bit enjoyable. The Sherburne Ski Trail is open with good coverage from top to bottom.