8:50 a.m., Monday, December 2, 2002 This is a U.S. 5 Scale Danger Rating avalanche bulletin for Tuckerman and Huntington Ravines. We will likely go back and forth between General Advisories and 5 scale ratings until we need to go to a daily bulletin. If a 5 scale bulletin is issued it expires at midnight on the day of issue and you can expect another bulletin the following morning. When a General Advisory is posted another bulletin may or may not be issued the following day depending on conditions. TUCKERMAN RAVINE CURRENTLY HAS BOTH MODERATE AND HIGH AVALANCHE DANGER. The Little Headwall and the Lower Snowfields have MODERATE avalanche danger. Natural avalanches are unlikley and human triggered avalanches are possible on steep snow covered open slopes and gullies. Use caution in steeper terrain. All other areas in Tuckerman Ravine have HIGH avalanche danger. Avalanches are likely on a variety of aspects and slope angles. Travel in avalanche terrain, which includes runout zones, is not recommended. HUNTINGTON RAVINE HAS CONSIDERABLE AVALANCHE DANGER. Natural avalanches are possible and human triggered avalanches are probable on steep snow covered open slopes and gullies. Be increasingly cautious in steeper terrain. In the past 24 hours the summit and Hermit Lake received less than an inch of new snow, but as discussed in yesterdays bulletin we picked up significant new loading in both Ravines. Winds picked before the dawn hours and intensified through the day with max winds on the summit hitting 99 mph late in the afternoon. As I expected high winds moved snow that had been sitting above treeline from the the past several days worth of snowfall. Along with this broken rime was also mixed with blowing snow into lee areas. Visibility was between 75 and 100 ft due to high winds by early morning. As the day progressed loading increased as well as sizeable drifting at Hermit Lake. As discussed, we were on the high end of Considerable for most of the day. Winds continued through the night hours before subsiding every early this morning. Today light snow with moderate winds are forecasted. I don't expect we will pick up enough snow to change the current stability much, but we need to give last nights heavy loading a chance to consolidate and stabilize a bit. If the weather forecast is correct we will like drop a rating in all areas by tomorrow morning. Watch for new bulletins discussing any change in the daily rating. Remember if the snowfield is large enough to ski, climb, or recreate on it's large enough to avalanche. THE LION HEAD SUMMER TRAIL TRAVERSES NEAR TREELINE SHOULD BE WATCHED CLOSELY FOR AVALANCHE POTENTIAL. Each year the Lion head winter route is opened once the summer trail snowfields become large enough to become a consistant avalanche threat. We will be changing the trail over this week due to new loading increasing the size of the traverse snowfields. YOU MAY FIND AVALANCHE CONDITIONS IN THIS AREA. You need to be knowledgeble in stability assessment in addition to safe travel techniques to travel safely in this area. Have the avalanche gear, travel one at a time, don't travel over under or over one another, and have a plan in mind about what you will do if an avalanche occurs. Watch for the change of trail signs. The winter route leaves from the Huntington Fire road and has orange signs. The summer route has white signs and leaves the Tuckerman Ravine trail near Hermit Lake. ANOTHER AVALANCHE ACCIDENT OCCURED YESTERDAY IN TUCKERMAN RAVINE INVOLVING 4 PEOPLE! THAT BRINGS THE TOTAL TO 8 PEOPLE CAUGHT IN THE PAST 3 DAYS. After being spoken about the new avalanche forecast, the upper end of 'Considerable' heading toward 'High', 4 climbers decided to check out their climb in Tuckerman anyway. In high winds and very low visibility they moved into the Ravine. Their accounts of the incident vary so it is hard to say where they were exactly, but they intended to climb the 'Sluice' ice which is between the 'Lip' and 'Right Gully'. 2 stayed on top of the debris and were uninjured. 0ne was partially buried with only her head area buried and sustained neck injuries. She was flown to the trauma center in Portland from Memorial Hospital. The last climber was buried with only a hand showing and was immeadiately dug out. He sustained only minor injuries. What is quite interesting about the incident is that these 4 witnessed the accident 2 days previous and helped us in the rescue! What pushed them to try climbing in an adjacent area under worse conditions is unknown. We have found that very often people who witness accidents or participate in tragic events stay conservative for a long period of time. Obviously this wasn't the case in this situation. What is most interesting about the 2 accidents is none of the 11 people involved had any avalanche gear, but they were skilled in the sport of climbing. Some had almost 20 years of experience, but in all those winters never took the time to learn more about SNOW!. The medium they travel through every time they're out! To have more fun pursuing your sport and be around to enjoy it longer please learn about snow, stability, and how to be safe in avalanche terrain. Once again a thank you goes to the AMC and MRS for helping us in many ways to accomplish the rescue successfully. AS ALWAYS, THIS ADVISORY IS ONE MORE TOOL TO HELP YOU MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN. It should be used along with your own snow stability assessments, knowledge of safe travel techniques, skill in mountain weather's effect on the snowpack, and avalanche rescue. Pull out your beacon, probe, and shovel and practice, pracTICE!, PRACTICE!!, PRACTICE!!! ONLY YOU CAN SAVE YOUR PARTNER!! Sign up for an avalanche course. We have all the avalanche courses offered in the valley this winter on our website, csac.org. PLEASE REMEMBER: o Any new precipitation may increase the avalanche danger, this includes wind transported snow. o Obtain latest weather forecast before starting out. o For more information, contact the U.S. Forest Service Snow Rangers: AMC at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center or Hermit Lake Shelters. o This avalanche bulletin will expire at midnight. Christopher Joosen, Snow Ranger USDA Forest Service White Mountain National Forest