Huntington Ravine is still under a General Avalanche Advisory. A General Advisory is issued when instabilities are isolated within the entire forecast area. However it's important to realize that avalanche activity may occur within these locations before the issuance of a 5-scale forecast. This is a critical fact to remember. Under a General Advisory you need to make your own avalanche stability assessments before venturing into any open slopes.

Upslope snow was the dominant feature of yesterday's weather as low-density snow fell and blew under cold conditions through the day. In the end we measured only an inch (2.5cm) of snow, but due to extremely light densities and winds an accurate assessment of depth was difficult. The snowboards at the Hermit Lake manual snow plot were lightly scoured this morning.

The snow coverage in the Ravines continues to ping-pong back and forth as we currently are building again after last weekend's rain. The southern winds of Monday-Tuesday's event loaded new snow into areas like Dodge's Drop, Hillman's Highway, Left Gully and cross loading numerous small pockets across the Ravine. Left gully continues to have the most impressive coverage and will likely be a regular performer as far as avalanche cycles are concerned. We look quite a bit better than we did 5 days ago however we still have a long way to go to be at our average. Although coverage is thin it does not mean we are without avalanche concerns. With the end of snowfall and very high winds last night the potential for natural avalanches has subsided dramatically while human triggered slabs are still possible. SE facing aspects in the strong lee of yesterday's loading WNW and NW winds have the greatest potential for unstable slabs. The greater Lip area and the Sluice are 2 examples of locations on the upper end of the "Moderate" rating. Once again we have a great deal of variability within Tuckerman Ravine due to substantial terrain features breaking up the landscape into numerous separate pockets. With this in mind constantly assess newly encountered snow for stability as you move through your route. Huntington continues to rebound from last week's devastating rain, but coverage is still scant. This still causes the "General Advisory" to be issued even though we are almost half way into January. The northern gullies have the thinnest lines compared to Central, Pinnacle and over to O'Dells. Currently the first snowfields of concern will likely be at the bottom and middle of Central and the exit gullies of O'Dells. I mention them because they offer some of the largest bed surfaces in Huntington, but they are still isolated concerns within their entire forecast area. Remember climbs are thin in places and anticipate unusual conditions including thin ice over rock in the typically straightforward Central gully.

With temperatures hitting -18F on the summit last night it feels like arctic winter again! Some chances of precipitation arise over the next 3 days and then on Sunday night we may begin the most significant area wide snowfall of the season. Models continue to produces colder and colder temperatures so lets hope for a hammering! Stay tuned and we'll keep you up to date as the event develops.