Huntington Ravine has LOW avalanche danger. Natural avalanches are very unlikely and human triggered avalanches are unlikely EXCEPT in isolated pockets. Normal caution is advised.

Over the past 6 hours the Summit has picked up another .9" (2.3 cm) of new snow accompanied by westerly winds that are currently blowing around 58 mph (90 kph). This brings the 4 day Summit snowfall total to 7.7" (19.5 cm). Today's stability concerns include slabs that formed earlier in the week that are fairly large and consistent. These can be found high up in the Bowl, Lip and Sluice. These have had the luxury of time and a recent warming trend to help the sintering process. However, they have also had some weight added to them from the newer snow discussed above blowing in and creating newer slabs on top of them. These areas are posted at Moderate. Some areas posted at Low do have new and old pockets of slab that you need to be aware of and treat with respect. Good examples of these include Central Gully, South Gully, Right Gully and Hillman's Highway. Obscured visibility may prevent you from identifying these areas of concern from a distance. Stay on your toes and use wise route finding skills to stay out of trouble in these locations. Other areas posted at Low have hard bed surface for surface conditions and pose less stability concerns. A good example of this is Left Gully in Tuckerman. Be ready with crampons and an ice axe in these locations as they are hard and slick.

Warmer air and moisture are the focus of our near future. Today the summits may see a few snow showers this morning followed by a break in moisture. Snow showers will develop again this afternoon and become more persistent between 6 pm and mid-night. We expect 2-4" (5 to 10 cm) of new snow from this system accompanied by west winds 35 to 50 mph (55 to 80 kph). Snow showers are expected to linger tomorrow and another larger system is lining up to give us a storm on Christmas Day. The models are still sorting out temperatures, tracks and total liquid equivalents. Right now it looks like we could receive .5 to 1" (1.25 to 2.5 cm) of moisture of some form. Some models say the summits will stay all snow while others are hinting at mixed precipitation and maybe even...I can't say the word. Stay tuned if you plan on heading into the hills over the holidays. The weather will be causing stability to change over the next few days.

THE LION HEAD SUMMER TRAIL IS CLOSED DUE TO THE AVALANCHE PRONE SLOPES JUST BELOW TREELINE. THE LION HEAD WINTER ROUTE IS OPEN. Mountaineering skills and equipment are required for safe travel on this route.

The Sherburne Ski Trail has top to bottom coverage though it is quite thin in places. Expect rocks and abrupt waterbars along the way.

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.