liquidfeet
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'm heading up to New Hampshire this weekend to ski Tuckerman's Ravine. Have never done this, but since starting skiing not too long ago I've really wanted to. No one I know personally wants to go, and I've REALLY tried to talk them into it .... so I am attaching myself to another group of people whom I don't know very well. I'll try and keep up with them as we haul our gear up the mountain. (I suspect they will all be younger than me! And maybe much more experienced. Sigh.... )
My daughter tells me to just think of it as a solo trip, with back-up. I'll start out with them, and meet them for the BBQ meal at the end of the day. If I have comrades traveling with me at my pace, that'll be extra credit. I'll try to take her advice.
I've been doing some trail running these last two weeks on woodsy trails with rocks and hills to get my body in at least a little bit of shape for the hike up the Tuckerman Trail. I've hiked up Mt. Washington three times during previous summers, but never in the snow. I am worried about carrying the backpack with all its stuff AND the skis AND the boots AND the helmet. That's a considerable addition of weight. I usually carry everything including the kitchen sink on my hikes, but never ever have I carried skis and boots. They are hard enough just to get to the lodge from the parking lot. (Sigh.... )
I've checked the websites that monitor the conditions. The ravine looks daunting, and in an unexpected way. Over the last three seasons I've checked out the photos people post of Tucks ski trips, but have never seen anything that looks like what I'm seeing in these current photos. It's exuding a definitely-not-user-friendly look this week. I can take cold temps, some wind, deep snow, steepness, and a nice steep hike up into the wilderness. That's why I want to do this crazy thing. I want to have the extreme skiing experience.
... but this ...?(see below)
Evidently with the huge snow-pack New Hampshire has accumulated this winter, the crowds have been dense at the Ravine. Thus big moguls. Maybe I can handle those. And the sun is melting the whole ravine, so there are "sluff runnels" that look like vertical crevasses streaking down the mountain. There are pictures of people up to their waists inside these deep depressions. I don't know what a sluff runnel is, but it doesn't look like I can ski across them, and they may be close together. Now how do people handle that????? I don't know if I can make turns that quick, or ski a line that narrow.
Here are the pics: https://www.tuckerman.org/photos/tucks/
And here is a forum discussion by those who have skied//boarded it this week. :https://timefortuckerman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9807
Please pardon me while I vent. I'm still going to do this ski trip, but I want to complain ahead of time to someone so here I go again. The Sherburne Trail, which parallels the Tuckerman Trail, is melting so fast that they say you can't ski down it any more. That means we have to haul our skis and boots back down the mountain on our backs. I hope the reports are overblown and that I can ski it anyway. I am taking my "rock" skis, in any event.
I'll charge the batteries in my camera, and take the requisite pics, and post when I return. I suspect that the difficulty of the experience is directly proportional to the fun and sense of accomplishment, so given my misgivings, this should be a GREAT trip!
Who's going this spring? Who's gone before? What's a sluff runnel?
My daughter tells me to just think of it as a solo trip, with back-up. I'll start out with them, and meet them for the BBQ meal at the end of the day. If I have comrades traveling with me at my pace, that'll be extra credit. I'll try to take her advice.
I've been doing some trail running these last two weeks on woodsy trails with rocks and hills to get my body in at least a little bit of shape for the hike up the Tuckerman Trail. I've hiked up Mt. Washington three times during previous summers, but never in the snow. I am worried about carrying the backpack with all its stuff AND the skis AND the boots AND the helmet. That's a considerable addition of weight. I usually carry everything including the kitchen sink on my hikes, but never ever have I carried skis and boots. They are hard enough just to get to the lodge from the parking lot. (Sigh.... )
I've checked the websites that monitor the conditions. The ravine looks daunting, and in an unexpected way. Over the last three seasons I've checked out the photos people post of Tucks ski trips, but have never seen anything that looks like what I'm seeing in these current photos. It's exuding a definitely-not-user-friendly look this week. I can take cold temps, some wind, deep snow, steepness, and a nice steep hike up into the wilderness. That's why I want to do this crazy thing. I want to have the extreme skiing experience.
... but this ...?(see below)
Evidently with the huge snow-pack New Hampshire has accumulated this winter, the crowds have been dense at the Ravine. Thus big moguls. Maybe I can handle those. And the sun is melting the whole ravine, so there are "sluff runnels" that look like vertical crevasses streaking down the mountain. There are pictures of people up to their waists inside these deep depressions. I don't know what a sluff runnel is, but it doesn't look like I can ski across them, and they may be close together. Now how do people handle that????? I don't know if I can make turns that quick, or ski a line that narrow.
Here are the pics: https://www.tuckerman.org/photos/tucks/
And here is a forum discussion by those who have skied//boarded it this week. :https://timefortuckerman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9807
Please pardon me while I vent. I'm still going to do this ski trip, but I want to complain ahead of time to someone so here I go again. The Sherburne Trail, which parallels the Tuckerman Trail, is melting so fast that they say you can't ski down it any more. That means we have to haul our skis and boots back down the mountain on our backs. I hope the reports are overblown and that I can ski it anyway. I am taking my "rock" skis, in any event.
I'll charge the batteries in my camera, and take the requisite pics, and post when I return. I suspect that the difficulty of the experience is directly proportional to the fun and sense of accomplishment, so given my misgivings, this should be a GREAT trip!
Who's going this spring? Who's gone before? What's a sluff runnel?
Apparently, they're "tubes" of varying size, carved out by snow heading downhill. Can sort of be seen on the big picture on site mentioned above.
Looks like it has cooled down at the Loaf and they groomed a few runs (whether that's good or bad remains to be seen....). Might not be as bad as all that! (79 was a BIT TOO WARM Tues) I'm buried in paper and have to make a serious dent but still thinking about a post-May 1 pilgrimage to Loaf. Have fun!
