Today looks to be another splendid day on the mountain with temperatures climbing to about -10C (15F). Winds are expected to slowly increase through the day and should be pushing 100 kph (60 mph) by later today. Yesterday's extremely low winds and sun warmed up E through S aspects enough to increase stability on these slopes. Elasticity in many of these areas declined which reduces the potential for fracture and failure to propagate. With this said, realize that isolated pockets of instability do exist. The concern in isolated pockets are variable. On northern aspects and areas protected from solar gain we have found hard slab over facets created by recent Arctic temperatures. Most of these slabs are pencil hard and thick enough to offer good tensile strength. However there may be isloated locations where hard slabs are thin which has placed facets closer to the surface. Thin slabs don't disapate your "impact bulb" as well as thicker slabs which puts more stress on the weak layer below. This means the thinner the slab the higher the potenial to trigger an avalanche. Remember Low does not mean none. Sun will bring more solar heat to the snow pack today, but winds will keep snow surface temperatures cooler than yesterday. Precipitation is expected to move into the area tomorrow night and persist until Monday. It appears that the higher mountains will remain as snow but models don't all agree on what warm air aloft will do to precipitation type. It is possible sleet or freezing rain may get mixed in midweekend. At this time models are predicting between .65 to 1 cm (.25 to .4 in) of water equivalent. We will discuss this next weather maker more in depth tomorrow as model accuracy increases. We took some nice pictures yesterday that we'll put on the website later today. Check them out!

The John Sherburne ski trail has mostly hard pack snow. Anticipate water ice, rocks, and thin cover in many locations. Though the surface looks good be prepared for these hidden hazards and sudden changes in the trail.

THE LION HEAD WINTER ROUTE IS OPEN. This is a steep and challenging route. Ice axe, crampons, and the skill to use them well are necessary for safe travel. Remember, it is always easier to go up than come down.

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 reading mountain weather's effect on the snowpack, and avalanche rescue.