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Avalanche Bulletin
Current Bulletin Danger Scale Locations Safety Meet Your Rangers
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  Date: Monday, April 8, 2002
Time: 8:07 a.m.

TUCKERMAN AND HUNTINGTON RAVINES HAVE LOW AVALANCHE DANGER. Natural avalanches are very unlikely and human triggered avalanches are unlikely except in isolated pockets on steep snow covered open slopes and gullies. Normal caution is advised.

Snow showers are forecasted for later today so be prepared for an increasing avalanche danger. Watch for total amounts, intensity, density, and winds. All of these will have a bearing on increasing probabilities of avalanche activity.

The valley may feel like spring, but it is still winter high in the
 
 
WARNING
ICE FALL DANGER
MASSIVE BLOCKS OF ICE THE
SIZE OF AUTOMOBILES
TRAVEL AT HIGH SPEEDS,
HIT ROCKS, AND SEND DEADLY
SHRAPNEL IN ALL DIRECTIONS
———————————
BE ALERT - BE AWARE
BE ICE SMART
 
WHITE MOUNTAIN National Forest
 
mountains. Be prepared for cold windy conditions as well as a slick icy surface underfoot. Winter clothing, mountaineering boots, crampons, and an ice axe are all needed for safe travel.

BE AWARE OF FALLING ICE! Due to it being both winter and spring up here this hazard will come and go with warm and cold temperatures. When it's warm and sunny this hazard will increase and when it's 10 degrees F and blowing at 100 mph the hazard will subside. As temperatures rise over the next few days with the possibility of rain, this hazard should increase. Each year over 1000 tons of ice forms on the headwall in Tuckerman Ravine. In the spring it all comes down, often in pieces larger than cars. Many folks have been injured and even killed by falling ice. Pay attention to where you are, do not linger under ice. Have a plan in mind about what you will do if ice comes down. Station yourself near a large rock to duck behind in the event of ice fall. BE ICE SMART!

THE LION'S HEAD WINTER ROUTE IS OPEN. Please stay on route to minimize climber impacts to the area. This is critical to keeping the trail open and protecting the resource. Consider it good practice to move slow and thoughtfully with crampons on rock. This is a difficult steep route so crampons, ice axe, and mountaineering skills are an absolute necessity. MOUNTAINEERING BOOTS, CRAMPONS (not step ins or sidewalk ice knubs), AND AN ICE AXE ARE NEEDED!!

The John Sherburne ski trail has good cover with the thinner snow near the bottom. Expect hard pack conditions unless we get warmer weather. Watch for rocks poking through the snow as melting continues.

 
PLEASE REMEMBER:
 
• Any new precipitation may increase the avalanche danger, this includes wind transported snow.
 
• Obtain latest weather forecast before starting out.
 
• For more information, contact the U.S. Forest Service Snow Rangers: AMC at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center or Hermit Lake Shelters.
 
• This bulletin expires today at midnight and the next avalanche bulletin will be issued tomorrow.

 
Christopher Joosen, Snow Ranger
USDA Forest Service
White Mountain National Forest
(603) 466-2713 TTY (603) 466-2856

TUCKERMAN RAVINE
 Hillman's Highway
  LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 Lower Snowfields
   LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 Little Headwall
        LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 The Bowl
  LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 Headwall
      LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 The Lip
LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 Left Gully
    LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 Right Gully
    LOW AVALANCHE DANGER

HUNTINGTON RAVINE
 Escape Hatch
       LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 South Gully
          LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 Odell's Gully
     LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 Pinnacle Gully
        LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 Central Gully
    LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 Yale Gully
  LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 Damnation Gully
   LOW AVALANCHE DANGER
 North Gully
         LOW AVALANCHE DANGER

 
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