Light snow and diminishing winds brought in limited new snow to the mountain yesterday. Brief windows of visibility allowed us a good look around Tuckerman yesterday afternoon. We observed avalanche activity from Wednesday's High forecast in the Chute, Sluice, Right Gully and even Connection gully, which is the first gully to the west of Lion Head. The most notable result of this last storm was the cross loading of gully in the lee of high easterly winds. These winds filled the most unusual locations with more snow than is typical by the end of a normal winter. The other was the loading of southerly aspects by ENE through N winds. In the lee from Right Gully all the way past Lion Head exists an enormous amount of new snow with cornices visible here and there. Right-Right gully (Lobster Claw) is off to a good start and Connection gully is about as full as gets. Similar conditions exist on the southern aspects of Huntington Ravine. So although all areas are considered to have "Moderate" danger I would be most suspect of these southern aspects in both Ravines. The larger the snowfield is on southerly and easterly aspects the more concern I would have. Expect some 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. It is important to constantly re-evaluate stability as you move through your intended terrain. Early season brush and rocks are acting as anchors in many areas as well as breaking up the size of snowfields. As we keep stating remember strange weather creates strange avalanches and if a snowfield is big enough to recreate on it's big enough to avalanche.

Summits are anticipated to clear briefly tomorrow morning before clouds move back in with the potential for some snow in the afternoon. We'll discuss this in more detail tomorrow morning and how it might effect stability in the Ravines.

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 except in a few choice locations 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.