gorgonzola
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2020
After 3 years of failed plans to ski Tuckerman Ravine it was time to get off the seesaw of deliberation. Reports of rain, snow, moderate avy danger had me reconsidering the trip, but worse case alternate plans of a test hike with the packs to ski the sherbourne trail or a lift served day at wildcat or cannon didn’t seem all that bad. The adventure was on.
The forecast snow never really materialized, Saturday’s reports weren’t as crusty as expected and the avy danger was posted as low Sunday morning – it was time to go! Junior and I set out in intermittent sun and snow showers and it didn’t take us long to work up a sweat with mild temps in the mid/upper thirties.
As we neared hojo’s the snow was coming down harder. After a quick break and chat with one of the rangers we continued on. The sun shined for one incredible moment as we emerged from the pines exposing the spatial glory of the rising walls of the bowl, then was gone. No words or pics can communicate seeing the awesomeness and pitch of the bowl for the first time
Visibility and skier numbers were low. we observed the various ski routes through the windy mix of snow and balls of packing peanut foam as we booted up before deciding on right gully.
It was slow going trying to get a foothold in the soft snow and crusty surface below with no real boot ladder. Crampons definitely would have been the way to go for the upper elevations. Youth had the advantage as I peeled off right just before the rock entrance to the gully, telling my son to go as far as he felt comfortable and to remember he still had to get his skis off the pack and click in. He quickly caught up to a group ahead and followed in their boot tracks. He disappeared up into the gully to reach about 3/4 of the way to the headwall. It felt like a lifetime in the wind and snow waiting for him to emerge before following him down.
His smile best describes the ski down through bootish deep cream cheese. (There was no way I was fiddling with a camera for any action shots – it was hard enough managing the pack and skis).
The sun shined for another brief moment to see our tracks. We toasted with sly fox and a&w before heading down the little headwall
The sun came out again for lunch and hydration at hojo’s before setting off down the sherbourne trail.
The sherbie ski’d nicely top to bottom with soft spring snow and bumps and took us right to the car. It was amazing that an hour later I had gone from full on winter to sitting on the hotel room deck having a beer in shorts and a t.
Certainly a great first tuckerman trip, the un-crowded and variable conditions provided more of the alpine adventure that we were looking for vs. mountain party shit show. Since we didn’t reach the top of the headwall, I guess we’ll just have to give it a go next year for the full tux experience
On the way home Monday we stopped at killington. No better way to end a ski season than 50 degrees, great coverage, and bumps, bumps, and more bumps!
The forecast snow never really materialized, Saturday’s reports weren’t as crusty as expected and the avy danger was posted as low Sunday morning – it was time to go! Junior and I set out in intermittent sun and snow showers and it didn’t take us long to work up a sweat with mild temps in the mid/upper thirties.
As we neared hojo’s the snow was coming down harder. After a quick break and chat with one of the rangers we continued on. The sun shined for one incredible moment as we emerged from the pines exposing the spatial glory of the rising walls of the bowl, then was gone. No words or pics can communicate seeing the awesomeness and pitch of the bowl for the first time
Visibility and skier numbers were low. we observed the various ski routes through the windy mix of snow and balls of packing peanut foam as we booted up before deciding on right gully.
It was slow going trying to get a foothold in the soft snow and crusty surface below with no real boot ladder. Crampons definitely would have been the way to go for the upper elevations. Youth had the advantage as I peeled off right just before the rock entrance to the gully, telling my son to go as far as he felt comfortable and to remember he still had to get his skis off the pack and click in. He quickly caught up to a group ahead and followed in their boot tracks. He disappeared up into the gully to reach about 3/4 of the way to the headwall. It felt like a lifetime in the wind and snow waiting for him to emerge before following him down.
His smile best describes the ski down through bootish deep cream cheese. (There was no way I was fiddling with a camera for any action shots – it was hard enough managing the pack and skis).
The sun shined for another brief moment to see our tracks. We toasted with sly fox and a&w before heading down the little headwall
The sun came out again for lunch and hydration at hojo’s before setting off down the sherbourne trail.
The sherbie ski’d nicely top to bottom with soft spring snow and bumps and took us right to the car. It was amazing that an hour later I had gone from full on winter to sitting on the hotel room deck having a beer in shorts and a t.
Certainly a great first tuckerman trip, the un-crowded and variable conditions provided more of the alpine adventure that we were looking for vs. mountain party shit show. Since we didn’t reach the top of the headwall, I guess we’ll just have to give it a go next year for the full tux experience
On the way home Monday we stopped at killington. No better way to end a ski season than 50 degrees, great coverage, and bumps, bumps, and more bumps!
