I think last week's pleading during the sunny warm weather must have gotten to the right ears because winter is here with some oomph! The Summit picked up another 16.7cm(6.6in) of new snow and Hermit Lake's total over the last four days has climbed to more than 80cm (31.5in). This past day's snow has been much lighter than Thursday's big dump with densities hovering just under 4% in the Ravines. Winds have lightened up as well in the past 24 hours but not enough to stop the new fluffy snow from blowing onto lee slopes. These NW winds are expected to pick back up today and reach 113kph(70mph) by the afternoon when they'll blow our current cloud cover off of the mountain. Higher winds mean tighter packed crystals forming stiffer windslabs over the softer windslab created in the past day. We look forward to the clearing as we have yet to get a good look into either Ravine. What we have seen is a tremendous amount of loading onto the lower slopes with southerly aspects. There's a lot of snow out there and it hasn't stopped moving around yet! Today is one of the most difficult days for folks who'd love to venture into avalanche terrain. As the clouds lift and we're greeted by blue skies the terrain will look more inviting. Don't let the blue skies convince you that the slopes are any more stable than they were when you could only see 50 yards. Avalanches don't care how beautiful the day is or that you've been planning your climb for two months. Use your head!

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 variable conditions from hard windslab to icy surfaces.

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.