Huntington Ravine has MODERATE and CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger today. Escape Hatch and North Gully have Moderate avalanche danger. Natural avalanches are unlikely and human triggered avalanches are possible. Use caution in steeper terrain. All other forecast areas in Huntington have Considerable avalanche danger. Natural avalanches are possible and human triggered avalanches are probable. Be increasingly cautious in steeper terrain.

Snow continued to move through the day yesterday till the early evening even though the summit didn't record any new snowfall. They reported blowing snow transported from the west side of the mountain into the lee aspects of WNW winds. It is amazing sometimes what a bit over 10cm (4in) of snow with 48 hours of perfect loading winds from the W through NW will do. A large avalanche occurred in Tuckerman sometime during the past 24hours. It is likely that the stress of new loading became too much for the snowpack to bear during peak loading sometime between 10am and 3pm yesterday. The crown line runs from the right side of the Bowl up into the Sluice and is approximately 300m long and up to 3 meters deep! The force of moving snow ripped out a deeper layer about 40 meters down slope where another crown is visible. An additional crown line is partially visible in the Chute, but is mostly buried by snow loading after the avalanche occurred.

This last snowfall began with very light densities in the form of Plates and Stellar Crystals with light winds. This was followed by a period of rimed crystals and graupel with heavier densities followed by an increase in winds. So what we have in many locations is the weekend's 1cm to 1.5cm cold crust followed by light density slabs with denser layering over the top of it. Along with this is a drop in temperatures to a low last night of -22C (-8F) that slows the settling process maintaining the elastic energy to propagate a fracture. The potential for nature activity is subsiding, but adding a human trigger to disturb cold slabs is still a concern. We feel slabs will not consolidate much over the next 24 hours due to the forecasted cold temperatures. Facet growth beneath the crust is still a concern particularly in pockets of thin new snow cover where temperature gradients will be greater. Upper movement of vapor should heat up the crust which could be a vehicle to begin facet growth on top of the crust in areas where it is covered with new snow. Check back over the next few days and we'll keep you posted.

The John Sherburne Ski Trail is improving with every bit of snow we receive. It is still undoubtedly in early season condition and you can expect abrupt waterbars, lots of bushes and rocks hidden under new snow. However drifts can be found on the trails on the way up into the Ravine which has helped begin filling in the water bars.

Remember if the snowfield is large enough to ski or recreate on it's large enough to avalanche. As always, this advisory is one more tool to help you make your own decisions in avalanche terrain. It should be use 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. To improve these skills take an avalanche course. We have all the avalanche courses offered in and around the Mt. Washington Valley this winter on our website, tuckerman.org.