Quick report
We went into Tuckerman Ravine around 7:30 this morning to ski either Chute or Left Gully. Visibility was great with partly cloudy skies and winds were not transporting any snow in the bowl at the time, but previous tracks had been filled in throughout yesterday/last night. Loose, snowball size pellets of snow were falling down the headwall and some chokes pretty regularly. The snowpack at the base of the bowl is deep and soft. We decided to head up to the obvious wall of ice above the choke in Chute and ski down from there. At the choke, however, the snow got noticeably firmer and thinner. A couple quick hand shears showed sensitivity in the top 5-8" of snow, which was breaking off pretty cleanly. We chose to ski down from there instead of climb above it after agreeing it wasn't worth it to push things on the first day of December. Even if there was no potential for a sizable release, the thinner portions of the snowpack sliding off and exposing rock/ice poses its own set of risks, especially this early in the season. The skiing we did in Chute and an adjacent gully on the headwall was very fun. Coverage on the Sherb is good until the last stretch.