The issues of the day are cold snow loading in on a cold crust and that it's darn cold! Snow squalls on and off yesterday deposited varying amounts of snow around the mountain which is being transported by high W to NW winds. The two combined have created limited visibility which has made it difficult to discern where exactly snow has loaded. The big question has been how much new snow has been able to stick to the existing steep icy crust. High winds have undoubtedly kept some locales blown clean, but occasional limited views have confirmed snow has loaded into strong lee areas. Some very light cornicing has been seen in places by cross loading up on the northern side of Tuckerman. We know that new cold slabs exist and would anticipate their adhesion to the cold crust to be poor. It is certainly a big heads up day that will need good avalanche terrain travel skills to deal with these instabilities. I would also expect slabs to be peppered with areas of the old crust. Although traveling on these crust surfaced locations would be a safer option than through new snow you need to be thinking about the possibility of natural activity and the potential of human triggers from above. It's Saturday on a three day Holiday kicking off school vacation week so I would be thinking about all the people running around the hills today. As a testament to this 2 climbers in Huntington triggered a small avalanche near the mouth of Pinnacle gully yesterday so instabilities are out there. Based on the spatial variability of slab and crust out there I would be ready for diverse conditions and avalanche danger ranging the entire Considerable spectrum. Huntington is more affected by high winds and possesses snow fields that are smaller in size than the areas in the Tuckerman. Therefore Huntington's stability issues today are generally not as much as a concern as lee areas in the Tuckerman bowl even though both are posted with the Considerable rating.

The other big issue is arctic temperatures. It's -5F (-20C) at Hermit Lake and -15F (-26C) on the summit of Washington gusting to 72mph. Be ready with quality arctic clothing consisting of good footwear, headwear, and shelled mittens. Multiple goggles will help with blowing snow and lens fogging issues hampering your visibility. Keep an eye on your partner(s) watching out for white patches on their face which is developing frostbite and their level of consciousness giving clues of the core body temperatures. You need to be team players in these conditions watching out for one another.

As always, crampons, an ice axe, and solid self arrest skills are needed for travel in steep terrain. This includes the Lion Head Winter Route. The Sherburne Ski Trail is open with a breakable crust. Thankfully, a few brave martyrs have been breaking up the crust and improve the skiing for the rest of us.