Presidential Range

Rain and melting impacted our snowpack this week which is now frozen into a hard, icy surface. Cold temperatures and breezy conditions today are unlikely to allow the snow to soften to create reasonable ski conditions. The small amount of new, wet snow that fell yesterday froze into a crust at treeline elevations with very few edgable skiing surfaces.  Avalanche danger is LOW today. If a rating scale for long, sliding falls existed, the rating would be considerable.      

The lower half of Sherburne ski trail is mostly rocks and mud and is now CLOSED at the rope, currently located across the trail at crossover 5. Please help preserve early and late season skiing by removing your skis and walking down the Tucks trail from there.

The Harvard Cabin is now closed for the season with no camping allowed at the site.

You’re likely to encounter some wind drifted snow today if you are climbing in the ravines. The small wind slabs that may have developed on the short duration, strong wind speeds (45-50 for 4-6 hours) may provide better booting but could crack unexpectedly underfoot. It’s likely that this avalanche problem will be an attractive surface to climb though there is too little of the new snow to make the skiing anything other than terrible. The risks associated with taking a long sliding fall are the greatest concern, by far, for safe travel in steep terrain today.

If you are considering sneaking away from work to enjoy some spring corn snow, today definitely isn’t the right day. If snow climbing is your game, today may be your day, though you’ll want rigid crampons and possibly two tools to do it. The low pressure system creeping around the region produced mostly unfrozen varieties of precipitation before the cold front wedged in yesterday. On a positive note, rain and melting has a way of smoothing snow surfaces and serves as the winch-cat that never comes to our aid in Tuckerman Ravine. Photos from the Hermit Lake caretaker this morning reveal the scant amount of snow in the terrain visible in contrast against the gray old surface. The weekend may have better ski conditions though at this point, Saturday will likely be slow to warm with softening driven by solar gain by aspect. Bring your crampons, ice axe and choose your line carefully.

The snowpack at all elevations has changed dramatically over the past week due to several days with warm temperatures and rain followed by unseasonably cold weather.

• The lower half of Sherburne ski trail is mostly mud and rocks. A rope across the ski trail at crossover #5 signals the closed trail below. Cross over and walk down the Tuckerman Ravine trail at this point. 
• The ski trail to the Gulf of Slides is likely to be mostly bare and muddy for the first mile near Pinkham, including a few stream crossings. 
• Increased streamflow from rain and melting snow last week has undermined snow and weakened snow bridges over stream beds. 
• The waterfall holes and moats near rocks are large enough to fall into in the Headwall area of Tuckerman Ravine. The main waterfall hole and the “Open Book” ice climb hole below are both over 75’ deep. 
• Rotten snow off trail can be knee to hip deep. 
• The Little Headwall has melted and turned back into a waterfall with open water upstream. The safest way down from Tuckerman Ravine is hiking down the Tuckerman Ravine Trail to Hermit Lake.

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Your avalanche, snowpack, or weather observations are extremely valuable to the forecasters at MWAC. Help create a more accurate avalanche forecast by submitting your observations here. 

 

Listen to the weekly MWAC Outreach Podcast provided by Ski The Whites. Discussions include snowpack information, weekend outlook, and general avalanche related info. 

 

The Harvard Cabin is now closed for the season. There is no access to the breezeway at HoJos.

Please Remember:

• Safe travel in avalanche terrain requires training and experience. This forecast is just one tool to help you make your own decisions in avalanche terrain. You control your own risk by choosing where, when, and how you travel.
• Avalanche danger may change when actual weather differs from the higher summits forecast.

For more information contact the US Forest Service Snow Rangers, AMC visitor services staff at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, or the caretakers at Hermit Lake Shelters or seasonally at the Harvard Cabin (generally December 1 through March 31). The Mount Washington Ski Patrol is also available on spring weekends.