Tuckerman's Ravine 3/22-23

After being tempted by some great pictures on www.tuckerman.org last week, my friend AJ and I decided to take advantage of the high pressure/low avi danger and check things out for ourselves.

I had some high hopes for the trip. In the past, we've been able to knock off some really fun runs- Dodge's Drop, variations of The Chute, etc. We had visions of some epic runs with the combination of snowpack and stability.

Leaving Burlington on Tuesday morning around 4:45, we had a smooth drive into NH. *unfortunately, all we had to capture visual aid material was a pretty little digi camera that I've found to be far better for indoors partying than temperatures below 75 degrees*

so we're all like "oooo, aaaah" and "i need more coffee"
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36921.jpg

As we got closer we noticed a good luck symbol- the mountain was wearing its halo.
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36922.jpg

It was a gorgeous day- bluebird, not too windy, and pretty warm. We cruised at a casual pace on our way up to HoJos. I rocked the ultralight rando rally setup of spatulas-trekkers. AJ was stuck with his gotamas on his back. AJ and I made friends with Doug(ie Fresh) from NJ. He was hiking up in his tele boots with only the things you'd wear while skiing down, teles over shoulder, and camera in fanny pack. Nice guy. Looked kind of funny with the helmet on for the hike, sweating profusely, with a slight nosebleed, and wearing kneepads.
Huntington from the Tuck's hiking trail:
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36923.jpg

We stopped several times to check the views and look over at Huntington. I was hoping to get over to Central Gully in Huntington for Wednesday, but needed to know more on conditions first. Conditions at Hermit Lake were cooler, mainly due to the wind. We found that up on the ridge it was blowing a consistant 30 mph or so. Temps were hovering around freezing to a little above freezing.

Views from HoJos:
Right to left: Dead End or Princess (heard it called both), Dutchess, and Hillman's Highway
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36924.jpg

R to L- Hillman's, Dodge's Drop, not sure of the name, Cathedral
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36925.jpg

Dodge's was looking very wind scoured/firm. Cathedral has several ice bulges that didn't appear fun or safe. AJ and I hadn't skied Dutchess, so we went for that.

Dougie Fresh had started up Hillman's. It was verrrry firm, mainly from the wind. Not corn, but not straight up ice. We caught up with him, offered help because he wasn't looking so relaxed. He said he was fine, so we continued up and to the hiker's right.
Looking down to AJ, Dougie Fresh to the right:
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36926.jpg

So, the upper 1/4 of Hillman's was kinda dicey, being very firm. Luckily, it's on of the more gentle slopes in the area, maxing around 35 degrees or so.

We didn't hang out on the ridge very long because it was so blustery. We made the 100 yard scramble along the ridge. I found that my Salomon Course held better on the glare blue ice, while my Lange Banshee was a consistant performer on lichen covered rock and jumping over krummholtz (sp?).
View of The Skis You Explain To Everyone, the top of Tucks, Snowfields, and Huntington
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36932.jpg

Snow was actually pretty good in Dutchess. Wind buffed and fast, with a crust. Fat skis aided in staying on top of the crust, and each turn let loose a barrage of sluff that would make the Cookie Monster go absolutely insane.

.5 down, AJ stoked:
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36933.jpg

AJ more stokeder:
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36935.jpg

AJ skied the rest of Dutchess, and I cut through scrub over to the Dead End Chute. The upper section of it was awesome- breakable crust, and fairly steep. This combined to allow for turns in the midst of cascading cooookies. I slowed down at the first choke and yelled to AJ to see how the lower snowfields were. Firm put it nicely. I was still unsure if i'd try to drop the lower cliff or not. As I made my way down, I realized the drop wasn't as big as I expected, and the angle of landing was purrrfect. I made some jump turns to get closer to the edge, making my way through a few mini ice bulges. 10 ft back I pointed it, and aired off the lower corner, aiming slightly skiers left. Landed, big wheelie out, and made some uncomfortably chattery/recovery turns to AJ at the bottom of the snowfields.

Velveeta Shots:
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36936.jpg
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36942.jpg

So we took a break then hiked up to the bowl. It was getting a little late (1:30), and the shade was making it's way across the headwall. We figured, stay as far right as possible and get the softest snow.

Headwall:
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36943.jpg
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36944.jpg

Everything from the middle of the headwall to the lookers left never really warmed up during the day. I had hoped to ski the line lookers left of The Chute, but didn't feel like ice skating. We hiked up the Right Right Gully (Lobster Claw). It was softer, but a nice deep dish pizza crust was forming, even though the sun was still all over it. The upper 1/4 was alright, the middle section wasn't fun (chunked up uberbig cookies frozen in place) and the bottom was alright because it was more open.
Me at the top:
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36945.jpg
chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin:
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36946.jpg

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36923.jpg

Looks like a nice playground.

Sherburne trail was crusted over, but fairly smooth. Picked up dinner at 5pm at the Scare Crow and decided against sleeping in the car. We found a cheapo motel in N. Conway, took showers, and passed out by 8pm.

Woke up around 6, hit snooze a few times, and grabbed breakfast at Pinkham Notch. For conditions, you can consult the avi forcast at the tucks.org site.

We strolled up to HoJos to find some wicked sweet greybird conditions. Conditions were harder than yesterday, and we weren't feeling too motivated. Talking to the caretakers regarding Central Gully revealed that ice tools would be very necessary, and they warned that the Fan (section beneath the gullies in Huntington) was hard, and a screw up in recovering from straightlining the ice bulge in Central would have severe consequences as one would pinball through the exposed boulders lower down. Apparently thats the only major ski injury they've had this season- skier falling on the Fan.

So things were looking doody in the Bowl. We decided to hit Dutchess again. Long story short: it was basically the same as the day before, but it was noticable that the skiers right side was softer than the left. Both AJ and I skied Dutchess all the way down, and skidded over the lower snowfields. Cruised down to Pinkham, talked about our trip with our huck doll Shplane, and drove on back to Burlingtron.
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36947.jpg
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36948.jpg
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36949.jpg
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36950.jpg

Look for more snow to fall, snow to become softer, and lots of fun to be had in the next couple weeks.

Of note: really cool looking chute directly lookers left of Dodge's drop. Brushy underneath, but you could always cut over to the bottom of Dodge's:
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36951.jpg

Also, I talked with some older locals regarding skiing Huntington. They said some basics, like wait till things are corned up. One of them had skied Damnation and Yale with another guy in the late 90s, but I guess each had required a few sections with ropes. A descent of Damnation without rope has not been done. Something to keep in mind, but it would be difficult to grab it on a day when the weather cooperates on a year when the snow is deep enough. So yea, I guess that's why it's still up for grabs.

Looks pretty sweet up there. There is a ton of snow right now, should make for a great spring bowl. Thanks for the pics!

B)

Thank you verry much. Just wondering where that place was these dayz.

good stoke.


http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36943.jpg

http://www.tuckerman.org/photos/tuck...0uninjured.JPG

looks like the old slides on the headwall have blown back in. were you worried about the warming with the new windslabs?

The only snowi found suspect in our zone was a 10 x 10 ft spot at the top of Dutchess. In the picture of the bowl, there was still some fresh wind slab between the Lip and the Sluice (the untracked section near upper right of that picture). For the most part, there was a visable change in the snow between old and newer snow. We stayed away from the possible slabs- partially for safety, partially because those lines probably wouldn't have skied as well, and partially because they were a little further away and we were lazy. edit- yesterday, warmer temps were causing some runs to allow a little wet sluff some down with skier turns. By the time we got into those sunny spots, it had cooled enough for it to be firm.

Excellent TR SkiJunky...exactly what I needed to see! Should be a great spring....

(bummed I'm probably out for it :mad: )

No corn up in R Gully or Lobster Claw yet?

glad you guys had a good and safe trip..nice pics looked like a beautiful day...keep up the stoke!!

an average non spring day on Mt. Washington is like a nice ass: fairly firm

http://www.tetongravity.com/ubb/icons/icon14.gif

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36935.jpg
nice shots Andy

How was the hike up? What was on your feet?

Yessssssssss!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Benny Profane

How was the hike up? What was on your feet?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by skijunky

I rocked the ultralight rando rally setup of spatulas-trekkers

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I was looking forward to these and you guys did not disappoint at all! Looks like a lot of fun, what I would do to be back in school on spring break with nothing better to do than hit up Tuckerman's for some turns. Well, I don't actually consider work to be "better", but, you know, it's gotta be done. The little camera you had took some really nice pictures too.

Nice work SJ. Been looking at the perty pictures alot these days. Got to ski the line lookers left of of Chute a few years ago, last year I was busy being rebuilt, and it was a damn good time. Deadend looks like a nice way to spend an afternoon as well, that and Dutches is on my list for this year. By the way what kind of air was involved with dead end? From the pics I'm thinking anywhere from ten to more. I'm planning on as many day missions to that zone as i can before it's gone, so let me know when your ready to head back up. Maybe go hit up Central for some corny fun. And, you gotta love the cheese shots.

Way nice shots and TR. I was gonna head in there today, but the snow has firmed up even more. Maybe Sunday. Mt. Hale looks like the choice today.
I'd like to get into Raymonds Cataract before it's too late. Anyone?

nice thinking of going up there in a week or 2. were those spatulas that you were using???

Sweet TR, SJ. I can't believe I'm going to miss this year. It looks awesome up there. Great stoke, great info. Keep it coming. I'll be up there in a couple weeks. No skiing, though, still rehabbing, thanks to right gully last year.

Skijunky
Nice TR! It's got me stoked about getting back to the home turf.

The hanging snowfield to lookers right of Dutchess is called "Emperess". The really cool chute lookers left of Dodges is called Diagonal (not to be confused with the "Diagonal" in Huntingtons). It's a great picture but it's just not that great for skiing because it's too narrow to do anything but forced hop turns.

As for Huntingtons, don't even consider it the next time you're up there - just do it! It's easily the best playground in the east and you might as well start getting aquainted with it. To lookers left of Odell's (the one with the big ice walls) is South Gulley - the best route for ascending the bowl. The best descents are: Diagonal (only can be seen from Wildcat), South (if the snow is soft), Yale (your picture tells me Yale will go this season if there isn't a thaw), and Central (this one is often best climbed before descent because you need to know the snow consistency below the ice bulge before you drop in). What ever you do, bring crampons. Huntingtons is also a great place for an ice-axe. As for Damnation, I've been watching it since '96 and it still hasn't yet been skied cleanly (rapelling is not skiing). We've done all the portions of it and North Gulley, but the two serious ice bulges in the center have still closed everyone out unless you're willing to risk a double 25'-to-35'-to-eight hundred foot straightline into the rocky talus in the fan.

It will go and I'll be there when it does. Hope to see you there.