Huntington Ravine has LOW avalanche danger. All forecast areas in Huntington Ravine have Low avalanche danger. Natural avalanches are very unlikely and human triggered avalanches are unlikely except in isolated pockets. Normal caution is advised.

Beautiful weather continues on the mountain today with clear skies, mild temps and mellow winds. It appears that this trend will continue for quite some time as Monday is the next time when the NWS forecasts a 50% chance of precipitation. Let's enjoy what we have now and forget about our pronounced lack of snow. The warm temps should help to stabilize some of the lingering instabilities that currently concern us. The northern side of Tucks has been harboring a buried facet layer in many locations that should hopefully begin to strengthen as warm temperatures creep deeper into the snowpack and crystals change from facets to rounds. This buried weak layer is more characteristic of a Western snowpack as opposed to our normal avalanche regime where direct action avalanche cycles are the main concern. Until we see stability increase and the layers come closer to uniformity, you should expect to see elevated danger on the northern side of Tucks. The tracks of others should not mislead you, there is instability out there. Where slabs overlying a weak interface are thinner they may be more easily triggered. A single person may have not exerted enough stress on a slab to outweigh its strength but a group of climbers or a skier making jump turns might be just the ticket. If you're headed out there make sure you dig a lot of holes and do a bunch of stability tests as the spatial variability has been huge and a single pit or test is not going to be representative of anything but the snow right in front of your face! Snow at the surface has gone through quite a bit of change and is not a primary concern for current avalanche activity but will definitely factor into forecasts when snow begins falling again. Many windslabs have metamorphosed into pillows of facets and what was once dense and tightly packed snow is now sugary square-shaped crystals with no cohesion. Last night's temps did not dip as low as expected on the mountain and the smaller change from the daytime temps has allowed the upper layers to begin stabilizing. Watch the 24 hour fluctuations carefully because cold clear nights after warm days will reverse this stabilization trend.

THE LION HEAD WINTER ROUTE IS OPEN. Mountaineering skills and equipment are required on this route. Crampons and an ice axe are a must for safe travel on Mount Washington. The John Sherburne Ski Trail has reasonable coverage given the lean snow year. You should still expect hidden hazards such as water ice and rocks.

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. 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.