Avalanche reporting AWOL

[skimtwashington]

No updated avalanche report since Friday. I guess when you don't have it...you realize how much you count on it. I can't recall another time there was such a gap.

[skibumm100]

When I click on the link I see one from Sunday, 9 AM??

[skibumm100]

when I go directly to Tuckerman.org I see todays any advisory, Monday, 8:28 AM????

[davygoat2]

same thing here, showed site under construction or down. back up this morning.
Davy

[RR]

Stay alert!

Avalanche Advisory for Tuckerman and Huntington Ravines
Posted: 8:28 a.m., Monday, May 10, 2010

Tuckerman Ravine has Low avalanche danger. Natural avalanches are very unlikely and human triggered avalanches are unlikely except in isolated pockets. Normal caution is advised. A General Advisory is currently issued for Huntington Ravine. We are done issuing daily avalanche forecasts for Huntington for the remainder of the season. You will need to do your own snow stability assessments when using avalanche terrain.

Yesterday was a memorable and perhaps record-breaking Sunday. I don’t know if there has ever been a Sunday in the month of May that has had fewer hikers and skiers visit Tuckerman Ravine. The handful that did venture up found conditions similar to what you might expect from a mid-winter day. It snowed lightly all day; 48 hour totals at the Summit were just short of 5” (12.7cm) with less falling down at Hermit Lake. If this makes you think of bottomless turns and waves of powder cresting over your thighs, get a friend to pinch you, shake you, or somehow wake you from your daydream. Instead you should be thinking “I wonder what effect this had on snow stability?” We are keeping the avalanche danger rating at LOW today, but that does not mean there are zero stability issues on the mountain. It means that instabilities fall within what we would describe as “isolated pockets.” Although not widespread in nature, these can still be dangerous. Even a small slab can be large enough to send you downslope in a hurry and runouts are currently littered with obstacles such as blocks of ice, boulders, and trees not to mention crevasses and open holes in the undermined snow. The wind loading was a result of WNW winds that averaged 64mph (103kph) at the Summit while hitting a peak gust of 96mph (154kph). Today you can expect more wintery weather, although the snow accumulations today will be much lighter than they were yesterday. In terms of avalanches, you should be alert for isolated pockets of new slab, particularly in strongly sheltered lee areas such as underneath the Headwall. Areas that have been on the receiving end of loading will have new snow deeper than 5”, so if you find these deeper pockets sitting on a steep slope be prepared to make you own assessment of its stability. With a wide variety of snow crystal types during the event, including graupel, expect a high degree of spatial variability. Another option for travel is to avoid these newly developed pockets altogether by sticking to the old surfaces whenever possible. This old surface has excellent stability underfoot, but its iciness will make for very challenging skiing or riding conditions. Crampons and an ice axe will be important tools for mountain travel in steep terrain. Furthermore, it will be yet another day with poor visibility in the Bowl, so you will have a difficult time getting a full and accurate assessment of all the hazards you might encounter, both from new snow as well as clouds. Be conservative and flexible with your plans.

The usual springtime hazards are have moved to the back burner after the past couple days of cold. Undermined snow and crevasses have been a big problem and they still are, but for a different reason. The problem today is that you won’t be able to assess size, distribution, or depth of crevasses or undermined sections. Even after clouds lift out in many areas you’ll be looking at a blanket of white, under which lies deep crevasses and open water holes. These sleeping dragons don’t need much provocation to wake them, so steer well clear of the areas that are known to harbor them. The first area I would recommend avoiding is the entire Headwall area due to the number of crevasses here, as well as the lower sections of Hillman’s due to the undermining around rocks and open water holes. Much of this season’s ice buildup has already fallen to the floor of the Ravine, and I don’t expect we’ll have falling ice today, but the floor of the ravine has a lot of large blocks of ice that you’ll want to avoid.