Huntington Ravine has Moderate avalanche danger. Natural avalanches are unlikely and human triggered avalanches are possible. Unstable slabs are possible in steep terrain. Use caution in steep terrain.

We have been in a very interesting weather pattern in the Ravines over the past couple of days. Low level clouds have brought 4.3" (11cm) to the 3800 ft levels and only 2" (5cm) to the summit. Coupled with this have been low winds with only a handful of observations above 30mph (48kph)in the past 48 hours. Hourly observations have seen winds mostly between 10 and 30mph (16-48kph) with 12 straight hours between 1-9mph (2-15kph) yesterday morning! The biggest question we have is what kind of transition occurred for snow accumulations between 3800 and 6288ft. Did avalanche terrain get closer to 2" or 4.5"? Start zones are expected to receive another inch of snow today increasing the blanket on the mountain available for transport. This shouldn't change the stability situation much on the mountain today. However, due to a few hours of moderate winds from the W and WNW yesterday evening slab developed causing us concern. Once again we believe soft slabs will be touchy due to the initial layers of light unconsolidated snow and the potential of buried surface hoar that survived both solar gain and wind. The spatial variability is great in both Ravines due to the combination of these factors as well as where the ice crust was already buried before this latest snow and where it was still exposed. Snowpits will be helpful, but don't over rely on a few stability tests. Focus on good route finding and safe travel techniques. Based on all this we are at a stiff Moderate today with a number of areas being on the upper end leaning towards Considerable. I would be most weary of strong lee pockets such as high in the Bowl under the Headwall ice and Lip. Due to low winds another place to keep an eye on is high up in the start zones just below their top-outs above treeline. Saying all this my greatest concern is still for tomorrow. Winds are expected to pick up tonight in velocity to between 50-60mph (80-95kph) out of the W and NW. Although there isn't an enormous amount of snow to move around there is enough to create new slabs loading on some already touchy instabilities. Tomorrow is also Saturday which means there will be more triggers running around than usual. Be aware of new instabilities and if there is a possibility of people above you that could be the trigger of an avalanche. I think once again variability will be high tomorrow so keep your eyes open for unstable slabs existing in some places and not in others. As Brian said yesterday we are in a "sneaky avalanche situation" The mother avalanche dragon sleeps but her children are out lurking.

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 coverage though it's very thin in places. Expect new snow over a hard and unforgiving icy base.

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.