Thinking about skiing Tuckerman's?

[ski diva]

Then I urge you to watch this film. It's about 15 minutes long, and it talks about the risks and dangers of skiing the Rock Pile. I don't want to be a killjoy, but if you want to do it, you should know what you're getting in to.

 

[BlizzardBabe]

I was a young and stupid (and lucky) college student when I did it. If I had known then what I know now I never would have done it.

 

[gourmetJo]

My son did it when he was a senior at UVM....glad he told me about it after he did it.

 

[Tvan]

Nope, nope, nopedy nope.

 

[brooksnow]

When I skied Tuckerman's 35ish years ago everything had big bumps. That made me feel more comfortable that I wouldn't be sliding great distances if I fell. I stayed upright. There were a couple people who had to be carried out that day with apparent broken legs.

 

[liquidfeet]

I went up several times in the spring to watch others ski Tuckerman. So much fun. There were lots of people, some in costumes. People brought their dogs and kids and blankets were set up for picnics. It was May, and warm. All this was happening in the bottom of the bowl among the watchers.

And I skied it twice, the Ravine once and Hillman's Highway the second time.

I paid attention to the avalanche danger which is posted every morning around 6:30 am. I only went when the danger was low.

My avatar is a photo I took when bootpacking up the face of the Ravine. The cluster of people below the climbers are down at the bottom of the bowl watching.

I highly recommend going up on a warm and sunny May Saturday when the avalanche danger is low - just to watch. It's a fun thing to do. Getting up there is more than a walk in the woods so take a backpack with lots of water and wear ice grips of some sort. There will be a crowd on the trail and the parking lot will be totally full by 8:00 am.

 

[SkiBam]

I can second that going to Tuckerman on a warm day in May is great. I did it maybe 20 years ago. Let an experienced friend organize everything (we ended up postponing from the Canadian long weekend in May due to avalanche danger. So went on Memorial Day weekend (Saturday) - lots of people (and dogs) , lots of sun, very nice snow - so so much fun! Climbed from the lunch place twice and skied something very steep. I recall I was so tired once we got back to the bottom that I couldn't even drink my wine or eat my dinner. Glad I did it when I did.

Actually now I remember we went back to Mt Washington again a few years later. Drove to the top and skied from there. Problem with that was you skied down and had to climb back up. (I'd rather have the climbing first). Anyway, it was fun stuff.

 

[elemmac]

I highly recommend going up on a warm and sunny May Saturday when the avalanche danger is low - just to watch. It's a fun thing to do. Getting up there is more than a walk in the woods so take a backpack with lots of water and wear ice grips of some sort. There will be a crowd on the trail and the parking lot will be totally full by 8:00 am.

100% this! I've been up a handful of times, and also done some slackcountry off the Autoroad, once that opens.

As the video points out, Tucks is serious terrain (I consider most of it a "no fall zone"), especially in the winter and shoulder seasons. But springtime is an amazing experience with the right weather and right conditions.

Weather can change at the drop of a dime, so definitely be prepared (even if the forecast doesn't back up what's in your backpack). e.g. I've seen snow flurries in August on Washington; I've seen bluebird skies turn into fog where visibility drops to a hundred feet in seconds; snow conditions that firm in a matter of minutes once the sun starts to drop...anything can happen. But with a little preparation, weather watching, willingness to turn around if things go sour, and bringing along the right gear...Tuckerman is an experience that I would recommend to nearly every skier...whether you're going to ski it or not.

Here's a few old pics from my college days...

From the bottom of the bowl on a beautiful spring day:



Yours truly, at the top of the chute (or one of the variations):



I went through a phase in taking photos of reflections in my goggles, this is one of my favorites (taken with an iPhone 4-ish):



And this was June 1st in the snowfields after the Autoroad opened

 

[RachelV]

Roughly 1 million years ago, I did this, thanks to an invite from @Pequenita and some of her friends. It was a great day.

Look at these babies.


I believe we skied Left Gully.


View looking out over Wildcat from the top.

 

[BlizzardBabe]

You all now have me scouring the basement for photos!!

 

[liquidfeet]

I took this one the day I boot-packed my way up above lunch rocks. I climbed up in that line you see on the right.
I pulled out of the line and skied down too soon. It seemed very steep when I decided to do that but once I was on skis and heading down it was no big deal. I was too tired to climb back up for a second chance to experience steep skiing.

 

[liquidfeet]

This is me that day.

 

[SkiBam]

I took this one the day I boot-packed my way up above lunch rocks. I climbed up in that line you see on the right.
I pulled out of the line and skied down too soon. It seemed very steep when I decided to do that but once I was on skis and heading down it was no big deal. I was too tired to climb back up for a second chance to experience steep skiing.
View attachment 26672

Yeah, I agree it seemed steeper climbing up than skiing down. i do remember that getting the skis on felt a tad challenging. I seem to recall I climbed up more on the left. Sure wish I had some pics from that day - pre cell phone I guess.