Tag Archives: Mt. Washington

New Years Day on Mt Washington

Tuckerman Ravine. Left Gully is far left, the Chute is next to it on the right.

Decidedly fed up with the snow conditions in the East, Rob, Sweeney and I headed to Pinkham Notch on New Years Day to see if there was anything skiable in Tucks. I’d spent the previous two days skiing, first at Cannon and then we’d been at Mad River Glen, where there was probably more moss and rocks than snow on some of the trails.

We did some beacon practice at MRG, since I’d never used one before. It took a bit of getting used to, but I feel a lot more confident if I ever had to do a single burial search–though I still feel like I’m just starting to get the hang of it.

Instead of partying hard, we crashed early in North Conway to get a reasonable start. We’d heard there may be some skiable lines, but with the variable weather, we weren’t sure what we’d find. I’d recently acquired the necessary mountaineering, and avalanche safety gear, so either way, this would be a good chance get used to it.

Sweeney lent me an old pair of his climbing skins–that we never got to use. The trail coverage was bad because of the recent rain. Sweeney and Rob hiked up to Hojos in their AT boots. Since I only have race boots (far more uncomfortable for hiking in), I put on my Brooks Trailrunners, and threw on MICROspikes over them, which proved to be a winning combination for the blue ice we encountered on the way up.

The bowl looked pretty gnarly, but Left Gully and the Chute were a bit filled in, so we made our way over. Sweeney was behind the camera that day, so all photos are courtesy him. His TR is here along with a goPro video of the expedition up through his first run.

Rob and I.

Some cool scenery.

Ice Axes out, on the ascent.

Rob and Sweeney, being more experience than me, stopped several times to evaluate the snow conditions. They didn’t find anything very worrying so we continued up.

Me, contemplating my line.

Left Gulley was a little firm, though Rob said Sweeney and I softened it up a bit for him–after he kindly ‘let’ us go first. Unfortunately, Sweeney only got photos of me standing on my edges, which I did a lot of the first run, due to the narrow trail we had to work with, and the ice crust on skiers left.

The Chute, our short second run.

Rob, laying it over on the Chute.

The Chute, although short, was MUCH better. The steeps at the top had a bit of an ice crust, but the middle, where it narrows down by the rocks, was a blast.

Heading out of the bowl.

You may have noticed in the photos that my gear was strewn everywhere, and that I carried race poles up. Bringing race poles was a mistake on my part–I’d left my 3 section trekking poles at home. However, I didn’t really have a winter pack either, I was using my old, trusty North Face Borealis, which clocks in somewhere around 23 L, and certainly isn’t meant for tossing almost 40 lbs of gear on. It did the job, but the pack looked and felt like it was about to burst–my skis were barely hanging on and there was nowhere to put things. Luckily I’ve now resolved this problem. Knowing the features my old pack lacked for winter use, I went and bought the REI Double Diamond pack, which so far looks pretty sweet.

We skied down through the bushes as far as we could, then we packed up and reconvened briefly at Hermit Lake. Sweeney and Rob attempted to ski the Sherburne as far as possible. I didn’t like the prospect of hiking any more in my ski boots, so I put my shoes back on and hiked down, ending up in Pinkham just behind them.

Overall it was a stellar day, and probably the best skiing to be had in the East on Sunday.

Certainly a memorable weekend.

New Years Day Tucks Expedition

Thoroughly fed up with the lackluster in-bounds skiing thus far, and more interested in shredding gnar (there was no real pow, but there was plenty of gnar) than partying our guts out, Rob, Ziehl and I set our sights on a New Years Day 2012 Tucks Expedition. We rolled out of bed around 7:30, and some how managed to squander a solid two hours of precious daylight before hitting the trail just after 9:30.

View New Years Day Tucks Expedition in a larger map

The Tuckerman Ravine Trail was about 50% water ice mandating some sort of traction. Rob and I strapped crampons onto our AT boots; while Ziehl, with the winning combo, raced ahead with trail runners and Micro-Spikes. No part of the trail was skinnable.

On the way up we encountered the Hermit Lake caretakers who confirmed that there may indeed be some half decent skiing to be done in the bowl. They also assured us that the Avy Fx was essentially unchanged over the last 12 hours and generally favorable. With so few potential slide paths even in existence with this unseasonably thin snow pack, only isolated and small instabilities could be expected. We decided to head into the bowl for a closer look at our prospective lines.

The bowl, looking pretty gnarly…

Left Gully in the center.

The Chute.

Hiking…

Gotta have evidence that it was actually us…

Once into the Left Gully, we spaced out and started to be more actively observant of the snowpack. After having to literally ‘put my back into it’ to cause a small slab to fail in a shear test, and finding almost no slabs in excess of an inch or so, we deemed the situation reasonably safe. Regardless, we spaced out and kept our beacons transmitting. Rob took the lead, with Ziehl in the middle, while I brought up the rear.

The climb was smooth going: the snow was dense from the slow trickle of wind-loading seen in the bowls over the previous few days and was firm enough to hike in but easy to kick into and edge on.

The Sun struggles to peak over the Boot Spur in the early winter sky.

Rob and Ziehl on the ascent up Left Gully.

At about 4500′ looking back toward NH 16 and Wildcat, from Left Gully.

Ziehl, on the climb.

Rob, breaking trail.

About 80% of the way up, Rob informs us that the top of the Gully is pretty bullet-proof: climbable but probably not worth it. Ziehl quickly catches up to Rob while I follow from a safe 200 yards downhill. When I arrive, they’ve already got a bench set up where we can get into our skis. I end up with the (slightly dubious) honor of first tracks this run, jump into my new Dynafits and begin to pick my way down. Check out some gratuitous POV action below:

The snow was cold and fast, and the line was narrow and hairy. With a conspicuous lack of elegance, but with an eye toward ‘skiing deliberately’ I picked my way down LG. Having completed my run without incident, I resumed camera duty…

The Headwall looking thoroughly un-skiable. Note the ice climbers heading
for The Sluice in the shady lower right region.

Ziehl picks his way down LG.

More…

Eyeing the finish…

Wildlife.

Rob charges out of LG.

Same.

Zoomed out for scale…

As soon as we finished up in the Gully we traversed back toward the bowl to scope out conditions in The Chute. We were only able to get maybe a third of the way up it before we were stopped by exposed rock. This time Ziehl took first tracks, followed by me and finally Rob. The Chute turned out to be the best skiing of the day, featuring softer and seemingly stable snow. Check it out:

Rob coming out of The Chute.

Straightened out for the choke point.

Rob rockets out of the choke…

Nice angles.

One last turn, for good measure.

Mission Accomplished! Leaving the bowl…

There wasn’t really any pow to be slain, but there was plenty of gnar which was sufficient to quench our back-country thirst for at least a few more days. The Sherburne was kind of a shambles, with a good dose of mud, grass and stumps, but it was skiable nearly to the parking lot at Pinkham Notch. Rob and I hacked our way down the Sherbie while Ziehl shot down the Tucks Trail with his Spikes and trail runners.

Long story short: season’s off to a decent start, now lets see if we can keep things moving in this direction for a few months!

Gear List (click links for more product info):

Sprite 1 Pitchlight and Great Gulf Recon Mission

In an effort to escape last weekend’s heat, Rob, Ziehl and I literally ran for the hills. At the time of this trip’s original incarnation we actually had a decent sized crew signed up to attend, but one way or another, all but the three of us bailed at the last minute. We began to realize this while en route to our camp site Friday night. In light of these developments we began to wonder if something more ambitious than the original plan was in order. By the time we made camp and had cracked our first cans of Harpoon (yes, cans!) the plan had grown in mileage by a whopping 100%. But I’m getting ahead of myself…let’s rewind.

Our main objective was to satisfy our annual Huntington Ravine requirement. If you live in New England and like to climb mountains, this should be one of your annual objectives, as well. Its like a huge outdoor playground – it’s steep enough that it’s a technical climb in winter or wet conditions. In the summer it’s just plain fun.

Additionally, Ziehl and I were hoping to smoke test our tents in their respective ultra-light configurations: sans tent body, pitched with only the fly and footprint. The weather was expected to be fair and we would car camping at Dolly Copp Campground the night before the hike. It seemed like an ideal sandbox for testing gear before trying this out in the field without the benefit of an escape plan.

View July 2011 Huntington Ravine and Great Gulf Trek in a larger map

As we approached the campground on Friday night we began to hash out various routes down from Huntington Ravine. The obvious options were Lion’s Head, Tuckerman Ravine Trail, Boot Spur, etc… All of these are nice hikes, but on exceptional weekends such as this, they’re all bound to crowded. A fourth alternative became clear: hike out through the Great Gulf, find the AT and ramble back toward Pinkham Notch. The only real question was whether or not this would be feasible with a large group. As you may have guessed by now, this problem promptly solved itself. We made our camp, spec’ed out the mileage – about 13 miles, had a quick night cap and hit the sack under a bright full moon.

My Sprite 1 Pitchlight configuration actually turned out to be extremely pleasant – the tent actually becomes slightly more spacious, the lack of a tent body prevents condensation, the whole thing becomes extremely packable and it’s still fairly easy to set up. Here’s some wobbly video and a photo, just for posterity:

You can imagine some trouble in a hurricane, but I think
for summer camping, this is going to be my go-to setup.

We hauled ourselves out of bed around 7:30 Saturday morning, cleaned up our mess and made the arduous drive from Dolly Copp to Pinkham Notch – a grueling 3 minutes followed by about 5 more spent searching for a parking spot. We were on the trail by quarter of 9.

We flew up the Tuckerman Ravine trail in an effort to beat the crowds to Huntington Ravine, but as it turned out, more than just a few people had the same idea – and who can blame them? By the time we made it to the cutoff, I was rough shape – it was less than two miles of hiking, but I must have been dehydrated, out of shape or some combination therein. Either way, once we started to catch glimpses of Huntington Ravine my strength began to return. It’s an intimidating but surmountable challenge. Anyone with the slightest bit of adventurousness in them would jump at the chance to scramble up this cliff:

View July 2011 Huntington Ravine and Great Gulf Trek in a larger map

The view above roughly represents the perspective observed when you first begin to see the ravine through the trees on the approach. We took a break for some snacks and water toward the floor of the ravine and then charged up it. Unfortunately, in our haste we neglected to take any photos while in the ravine. Once at the top we took some time to relax in the cool breeze and snap a few photos.

Ziehl, and Wildcat in the background.

Looking southeast over the Ravine.
Photo credit: Ziehl

After catching our breath we headed up to the summit – a fairly short stretch of scree and pavement – where we enjoyed some summit beers, and trail mix. Once we were good and recharged, we filled up our water bottles and headed North, toward the Great Gulf. Behold:

View July 2011 Huntington Ravine and Great Gulf Trek in a larger map

Looking toward the Great Gulf.

Ditto.

On our way into the Great Gulf!

The trail basically plummets over the rim and into the Great Gulf. At some point during the descent Rob remarked that had we bothered to read the guide book, it probably would have advised us against down climbing this particular trail. It was steep, wet and full of loose rock. In any event, it offered us an excellent view of the Gulf.

Looking Northeast out of the Gulf.

Same

Ziehl.

Me.
Photo Credit: Ziehl

The trail doubles as a waterfall in
many places…

Spaulding Lake

Looking back up the ravine.

This was a typical scene on the route out.

Swimming hole!

None of us had really spent much time in the Great Gulf, so this part in particular turned out to be pretty enjoyable, especially since we had ample opportunity to study the area before next ski season!

View July 2011 Huntington Ravine and Great Gulf Trek in a larger map

Gear List (click links for more product info):

Spring: the part of the ski season where the weather is more enjoyable.

That’s right, even after hanging out on the beach in California I could not be deterred. As of April 30th there was still plenty of snow on the mountains (if you know where to look) and it wasn’t going to get skied on by itself! This time out, me managed to round up a pretty epic crew: myself, Alex, Rob, Shane, Hannah, Ziehl, and Christine. The plan was ski Tucks (or more accurately, what’s left of it) on Saturday. The weather was shaping up nicely: partly sunny, breezy, and highs in the mid 40s. An excellent day of spring skiing by any measure!

Anticipating crowds, we tried to arrive reasonably early. Even so, we ended up parking down the street from the trail head. All of the overflow parking was in use. I dropped Alex, Ziehl and the gear in the main parking lot and went to park the car. Miraculously (given the thousands shambling around the area), when I got back to the parking lot, Alex and Ziehl had managed to meet up with the rest of the party who had arrived separately. After messing around with our backpacks and skis for a good 20 minutes we were ready to hit the trail.

Tucks, on a late spring day is a sight to see. Whether you love it or hate it, it’s a spectacle. In fact there is no shortage of people who are along just for the ride: to watch hundreds of people rocket down the icy slopes. On one hand, the situation is annoying: you’ve come to do some backcounty skiing and enjoy the pristine White Mountains but find yourself surrounded by hordes of people who may or may not have any idea what they’re doing, and seemingly going out of their way to be right in front of you at all times. On the other hand, it’s pretty cool: the place is transformed into a huge staging area, full of people ready to embark on various expeditions, which likely have gone through several stages of planning and possibly hours of travel, all leading up to this point. You really have to take a glass is half full approach here: it just so happens that loads of like minded people have arrived to enjoy the same awesome place. Who can blame them?

After a couple hours of mixed hiking and skinning, we arrive at Hojos, which serves as a base camp of sorts. Here we get our first good look at the bowl.

Some obvious deterioration, but still plenty of snow!

After a quick breather, we start planning our attack. Word on the street was that Dodge’s Drop, one of steepest, tightest and most technical runs in the area was skiable. The Drop is not really in the bowl proper, it’s to looker’s left of Hillman’s Highway, which in turn is to lookers left of the Bowl. We decided that we’d head for Dodge’s by way of Hillman’s Highway and take a stab at it, while anyone not wishing to tackle the Drop could return via the slightly mellower Hillman’s.

Wait, so much further?
Photo Credit: Ziehl

A long way up!
Photo Credit: Ziehl

Our approach: Hillman’s Highway.

And a long way down…
Photo Credit: Ziehl

Anxious to get to the top, we climb up about as fast as we can, laden with skis, clothes and other equipment.

Just for frame of reference…

Once at the top we re-assemble and start getting into our ski gear – near the top of the run the wind is quite a bit stronger and the temps are probably a good 10 degrees cooler than at the base. From the top of Hillman’s be begin the short walk south-east toward Dodge’s Drop. Up on the ridge, the weather is up to it’s usual tricks. High winds, wand fast moving clouds race up and over the ridge in dramatic fashion.

The usual business…

Shane outrunning the clouds.

We find the Drop without too much trouble, click into our skis and give Rob the honor of first tracks, as it was mostly his route finding that led us here.

Rob, off to an aggressive start…

Unfortunately, shortly after he dropped in, we started to hear him calling back to us. Over the wind, we can just barely make out something along the lines of ‘still pretty firm’, ‘not worth it’ and ‘no fun.’ We hastily get out of our skis and head back to Hillman’s Highway, where we knew the snow to be plenty soft. Rob took one for the team this time…

The staging area.

Ditto…

Hannah declares victory.
Photo Credit: Ziehl

Just about ready for the good part.
Photo Credit: Ziehl

This is where the left entrance to Hillman’s
rejoins the main part of the run.

We take a nice run about two thirds of the way down Hillman’s where we stop for lunch and rest. We find a sunny spot by a rock where we can all sit comfortably and watch other skiers going up an down.

Snacks and beers.
Photo Credit: Ziehl

After another run we pack up our gear and roll out. The snow from the top of Hillman’s, all the way down past Hojo’s until about one mile from the end of the the Sherburne was excellent spring skiing: bumped up but soft and forgiving. We all but ran our way out for the last mile. By this stage of the game I was starting to turn my thoughts toward dinner, which would certainly be more attainable at the bottom of the mountain, out of my ski boots and with the aid of car.

View Hillman’s Highway in a larger map

Gear List (click links for more product info):