Presidential Range

Natural and human-triggered avalanches are unlikely to occur today. Firm, supportable crust will be the most stable snow to travel on. Watch out for small, isolated areas of unstable snow if boot penetration into the snowpack is greater than ankle-deep.

Expect to find firm and generally stable conditions in steep avalanche terrain today. A new crust on the snowpack surface was formed after wet snow, rain, and subsequent freezing temperatures in the past 48 hours. In steep terrain, this crust is mostly supportable to the weight of a person. In lower-angle terrain, expect this crust to be punchy and breakable. 

Water from the last storm was able to penetrate several inches into the snowpack before refreezing. Below this layer, expect to find dry snow along with multiple other buried crust layers. Notably, the firm January 5th melt/freeze crust, which was the bed surface for multiple small, human-triggered avalanches last week, is now more deeply buried in the snowpack. Due to the bridging properties of the new crust layer, and the lack of a cohesive slab in the vast majority of locations, it is unlikely to see this layer produce any avalanches right now. However, if you find that your boot penetration is deeper than an ankle, it may be worth investigating this layer or moving back to supportable snow. 

The Lion Head Summer Trail is OPEN due to reduced avalanche risk, and is currently the least hazardous and most direct route to the summit of Mt Washington from Pinkham Notch. 

OBSERVATIONS: Please consider submitting an observation of what you are seeing in your travels. Submitting an observation hones your skills, informs other users, and improves our forecasts.