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Tuckerman Ravine 4-26-2009

LiftlineRedcoat

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Feb 20, 2009
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Sunday April 26, 2009
Tuckerman Ravine
Wet Corn, overcast skies, fog and a bit of drizzle

I got hooked on Tuckerman Ravine the first time I went 6 years ago. There is something magical about this place, and it really drew me in. Until this year, I've been incredibly lucky by Mount Washington's standards in that I've enjoyed bluebird skies on all but one of my treks up the mountain. This year was not one of the best as the weather didn't quite cooperate as it had for me in the past, but it was a blast just the same.

While we were dissapointed missing Saturday's warm temperatures and bluebird skies that drew 2500 people into the Ravine, it was apparently a dangerous place with 3 reported avalanches from 14 inches of unconsolidated snow that fell 2 or 3 days before. Our experience in Left Gully on Sunday was a bit scary too at one point. When I first heard the commotion above me on the boot ladder and looked up, I thought I saw a backpack coming down the hill. I momentarily thought to myself "maybe I can catch it if it slows down a bit." As it got closer, I realized it was actually a boulder careening straight down the boot ladder causing people to scatter -including me- in every direction to get out of it's way. It passed by at probably 40 mph and 6 feet from where I was standing. It was a sobering reminder that the Ravine makes it's own rules.

There were 3 of us in our party, and one was in the ravine for the first time to ski the Ravine. I was dissapointed for him that the fog was so thick when we reached the floor from HoJo's that we could only see about one third the way up the headwall. Once we started climbing Left Gully the fog seemed to lift with us and by the time we reached the top we could see the whole Ravine and out across the valley to Wildcat. The snow in Left Gully was wonderful. There's nothing like the adrenalin rush you get in Tuckerman Ravine as you're making that first turn. We made two runs in Left Gully, and skied halfway down the Sherburne before having to hike the rest of the way down to Pinkham Notch. Two growlers of BBC beer awaited us in the cooler, and MAN, did they taste good!

Hope you enjoy the helmet cam footage... feel free to comment on YouTube :beer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VfiKPhE2gc

Al
 

riverc0il

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Nice vid! Captures the experience much better than photos. Though I think the POV skiing video does not quite capture the steepness aspect quite as much as videoing up hill or across the hill.
 
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