A thin overcast hangs ominously above a calm icy summit this morning. It is surely a sign of what's to come but first let's focus on what the mountain looks like this morning. Around sunrise yesterday the Summit temperatures dove below freezing and the freewater in the snowpack began to lock up. The result has been a rapid transformation from slush to ice. This should clue you in on a few different things. First, snow stability has increased dramatically and all areas are currently at Low. Second, the snow surface is now very hard and slick which will create tough conditions for bonding with the incoming snow and also difficult conditions for self arrest should you slip and fall. Crampons, an ice axe and the ability to quickly self arrest will be necessary if you get into angled terrain today. Third, if you are an ice climber you should expect ice dams to be holding back some serious hydraulic pressure as water tries to push through constricted channels. And lastly, rushing water has eaten away at our snowpack and caused some serious damage. The Little Heawall has opened up two gaping holes and other areas have surely become undermined. It's time to think about spring hazards!

And now to look ahead... An interesting storm system is moving up the coast and will show up on our doorstep after dark. A few flurries can be expected before then but after the sun goes down is when the real show will begin. It looks like it will start with light density snow falling on the slick surface of our current snowpack. Winds will increase to 75mph(121kph) out of the SE as snow becomes quite heavy at times with intensities reaching S5(5cm or 2"/hour). Snow will continue through the day tomorrow though don't wait to shovel because this storm will provide us with the textbook "upside-down snowpack." What I mean by this is that densities will increase leaving us with heavier snow on top of the lighter stuff. This combination is not well known for its stability. And just to make us remember that we're in New England, the storm will finish off with a little icing on the cake. Unfortunately the icing won't be the type that many find palatable as it looks to be a strong band of freezing rain. Right now we expect avalanche activity to occur throughout the day on Saturday. We'll be watching the storm closely so check back in this evening for the latest on our Weekend Update at tuckerman.org.

The Lion Head Winter Route is open. This is a steep and challenging route. Crampons, an ice axe, and the ability to properly use this equipment are necessary for safe travel on this route. The John Sherburne Ski Trail is open, however, conditions today will be brutal as the frozen slush turned to ice. There are also numerous bare spots and exposed rocks throughout the trail.