Yesterday morning's snow ended earlier than forecasted resulting in a grand total of 3.3" (8.4 cm) of new snow. This was less than we were hoping but it made a good effort to blow around and do what it could to create new slabs. We have clear visibility into both Ravines today and see mostly rain crust on the surface with patches of newer slabs in areas including the Lip and the top of Yale and Damnation. We did get a chance to pounce around on some new slab in Tuckerman yesterday. Where we were, new snow was bonded well to the old surface but did have elastic energy and was failing on a less dense layer within the new snow. This will vary from pocket to pocket depending on the time it was deposited. Generally you will find excellent crampon conditions throughout the Ravines on the exposed rain crust. While snow climbing conditions are great today, realize that the surface is very slippery and self-arrest must be executed immediately to keep you from reaching terminal velocity. Crampons and an ice axe are mandatory equipment for safe travel in steep terrain today. Other mountain hazards to be mindful of today include ice dams. We received about an inch (2.54 cm) of rain earlier in the week and we have since cooled down which could be causing ice dams, particularly in areas with a lot of water in them like Pinnacle Gully. You also want to be choosing your route or trail with post-holing in mind. On low angle and vegetated areas that are not packed, post-holing could be a nightmare. The crust has grown pretty fast and we measured it to be 7 cm thick below Huntington Ravine. In some areas this won't be able to support your weight. If you do plan on heading off the beaten path, snowshoes are recommended.

Over the next few days we will be watching facet development in the snowpack. Free water from the rain paired with sharp temperature gradients will cause faceting, which may start to erode away at the surface crust. This is something to keep in mind for our next storm system. At this point there isn't anything impressive in our near future. The Clipper system moving across New England tonight will pass south of us and we expect minimal snow accumulation at this time. The same goes for the next system early in the week. We will keep a hopeful eye on these and they just might take a turn for the better.

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 is open and has decent coverage though it's very thin in places. Expect variable surface conditions with a hard icy surface being the prominent feature.

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.