As predicted several more inches fell through yesterday bumping the storm total over 30 inches (76cm) with a water equivalent of 5.25 inches (13.3cm). That's about 20 inches (50cm) of water out of these past 2 storms! Once again INCREDIBLE! Yesterday's snow fell with shifting winds out of the NW in the 50-65mph (80-105kph) range with a peak gust of 76 mph (122kph). Winds should diminish today and have been out of the WNW over the past few hours. This will reduce new loading giving the current snowpack some time to consolidate. However, this process should not occur to quickly as temperatures are expected to remain cold and cloud cover is anticipated to dominate the higher elevations over the next 2 days. Expect instabilities to linger through the weekend, but as we keep alluding to it will be quite spatially variable. Basically expect stability to vary widely from location to location. Early season brush and rocks are acting as anchors in many areas as well as breaking up the size of snowfields. The larger the snowfield is on southerly and easterly aspects the more concern I would have. Saying this I would still expect different forecast areas to drop a rating sometime over the next 48 hours. So remember: 1. Although we have received some excellent early season gifts with these last 2 storms it is still early season so pick your routes very carefully. 2. Strange weather creates strange avalanches. and 3. If a snowfield is big enough to recreate on it's big enough to avalanche!

ICEFALL- Ice is forming rapidly on the Tuckerman Headwall albeit still quite thin. Any early season climbers will be very challenged to protect their climbs. Expect good ice protection difficult to find and rock features to be hidden under snow. Completely think through the pitfalls of your route before ascending. Don't forget it's still October so be aware of falling ice when we get into freeze thaw periods before the real deep winter freeze. Many folks have been injured and killed by falling ice so pay attention to where you are, and don't linger when under ice. Have a plan in mind about what you will do and where you will go if ice comes down. Station yourself near a large rock to duck behind in the event of ice fall.

GENERAL TRAVEL- The high mountains are absolutely in full winter conditions so don't plan on being able to follow summer trails. Trails going through ravines and gulfs are buried with snow in many areas and require winter gear, i.e. winter clothes, ice axe, crampons, avalanche beacons, shovels, and probes. Don't wait any longer to refresh your avalanche skills. Pull out your beacon and practice. Review your safe travel rules, techniques for assessing snow stability, and sign up for an avalanche course. We will have all the avalanche courses offered in the valley this winter on our website, tuckerman.org very soon.