Huntington Ravine has CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger. Natural avalanches are possible and human triggered avalanches are probable. Be increasingly cautious in steeper terrain. The only exceptions to this rating are Damnation and North Gullies, which have MODERATE avalanche danger today. Natural avalanches are unlikely and human triggered avalanches are possible. Use caution in steeper terrain.

We're currently sitting under beautiful blue skies on Mt. Washington and temperatures are quite pleasant. Summit winds are currently hovering around 65kph(40mph) out of the SW & W and aren't expected to climb much higher except for the occasional gust. It's amazing to still see any loading going on in the Ravines with such mellow winds after yesterday's temperatures climbed high enough to produce a substantial suncrust in lower areas with sunny exposure. We feel that the current rate of loading will not affect our existing windslab nearly as much as the incoming precipitation. Forecasts are calling for rain AND/OR snow and the avalanche advisory is based on the potential for us to receive a little of both. We're likely to receive rain first starting sometime in the mid afternoon. Rain falls on all aspects without favor and adds stress to the snowpack without any accompanying strength. During this phase we will see the potential for natural activity rise and areas that are currently at Moderate will move toward the Considerable rating. This rain shouldn't stick around for too long before it changes over to snow and winds blow it in from the W. This will effectively load the NE and E aspects that picked up substantial snow in the last 48 hours. The total forecasted liquid equivalent is around 1.25cm(.5in) of which half should be snow. If we vary to far away from this forecast either by the total liquid or the expected amounts of rain or snow, you should anticipate rising avalanche danger.

As we had expected we saw evidence of avalanche activity yesterday morning after the clouds blew out. Areas with N aspects picked up the most snow from Monday night's storm and debris was evident at the bottom of Dodge's Drop, Central, O'Dell, South and the Escape Hatch. The sun began beating down on slopes as soon as the clouds cleared and we observed a number of large sloughs in areas of large solar gain. The warm-up surely helped stabilize some of these slopes but only in the most upper layers. We'll let time continue to help things settle out in deeper layers before the avalanche danger ratings begin to drop.

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 heavy wet snow to hard windslab to icy surfaces. New England skiing at its finest!

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.