Gulf of Slides 3-25-07

[cbcbd]

Date(s) Skied: 3-25-07

Ski Area: Gulf of Slides

Conditions: corn, mashed, death cookies, packed

Trip Report:
Was up in N. Conway ice climbing Sunday morning. Got done at around 11:30 and still plenty of time left in the day - so I decided to get a run in.
Headed over to EMS in N. Conway and rented some AT gear (BD Havoc with Fristchi Diamir freerides, Scarpa Denalis, and skins). I had my downhill skis with me, but they are so heavy compared to the AT setup and booting up the trail with downhill boots seemed slow and painful.
The Gulf of slides trail is 2.6 miles and then you're at the base of the slides. I figured I had 5 hours to do a run and come back to return the skis (that EMS closes at 6pm on Sundays). Left ems at 12:20.

Started up the GOS at 1:15pm.
Nice skin path:

Slides in view:

View across:

Going up boot ladder:

View South (towards Attitash) from the top of the slide:

Ready to go:

First slide view after run. As you can see, the shade creeped in and definitively hardened things up a little bit. Still very skiable since it was broken up - tons of fun!!

And a small video of some of the ski down the GOS trail - man, what a fun, narrow and long trail, what a blast!!



So, started skinning at 1:15, got to bottom of slides at 2:50, booted up to top of slide by 3:45, started my run down the slide around 3:55, made it to my car around 4:30 - way ahead of schedule, woo!

 

[Greg]

Awesome! Well done!

 

[ajl50]

Looks great- way to get out there.
How much did it cost to rent the at set-up?

 

[cbcbd]

Looks great- way to get out there.
How much did it cost to rent the at set-up?

$30 for boots, skis, poles, skins for the day.

 

[thetrailboss]

Is it just me or is there not much snow? How are the base depths? In comparison to other years?

 

[marcski]

Nice. Looks like some awesome spring bc skiing.

How solid did those boots feel on the way down. A buddy of mine is only skiing on AT equipment. Said he got the stiffest AT boot made...and he is rock solid going down anything inbounds or out. However, he is a small framed guy, only weighs about 140.

 

[cbcbd]

Is it just me or is there not much snow? How are the base depths? In comparison to other years?

This was my first time up there but someone I met on the way down said that the snowpack looked like usual May conditions. So yeah, not a lot of snow and the spring skiing prime is now unless we get a lot of major freak snow from now on.

btw, there was absolutely NO wind at the top of the slide. That morning I think Mt Washington got close to 2" of new snow but the lack of wind (very odd) did not help to wind load the usual affected aspects - tuckermans, gos, huntington.

How solid did those boots feel on the way down. A buddy of mine is only skiing on AT equipment. Said he got the stiffest AT boot made...and he is rock solid going down anything inbounds or out. However, he is a small framed guy, only weighs about 140.

I weigh in at 166, probably close to 180 with clothes + pack. They were fine and fit more snug than my downhill boots (that I really need to upgrade). The skis with bindings weigh MUCH less than my downhill setup so I don't feel I'd need a heavier boot to toss them around. Of course skiing crud would be much easier with my heavier downhill stuff... but I didn't really feel I missed it

 

[dmc]

Snowpack is really low for the GOS... It looks like late April there...

I love the feeling on the GOS trail when the slides come into view..

 

[lftgly]

Much appreciated trip report and great photos. That was smart scheduling to fit the ski run in after noon, when the skies cleared!

 

[Newpylong]

That was great... thanks.

 

[FRITOLAYGUY]

Nice Vid, how wide would you say that was on average?

 

[cbcbd]

Nice Vid, how wide would you say that was on average?

10-15ft? But the untouched snow on the sides was very heavy and deep and slow - I tended to not go in there because it would drastically put on the brakes.

Some spots were tighter because of lack of total coverage. It's not that steep so turning is not as essential in some tight spots.

 

[dmc]

Some spots were tighter because of lack of total coverage. It's not that steep so turning is not as essential in some tight spots.

It's fun snowboarding with a 55lb pack our your back filled with camp gear... I actually had to use my poles to balance with all the weight... funny stuff...

 

[Bumpsis]

Great post. I did not know that you can rent AT gear from EMS up there. Wow, that's great. It gives me some hope. I got discouraged from skiing anything at Mt. Washington in the past few years mainly because of the druggery of lugging 40+ lb pack of alpine gear up the trail. I've done it a few times and yes, I did get lazy in my old years. So now, I just play with DMC's map of Tuckerman's.

It's good to know that a lighter alternatives are available.

 

[dmc]

I hear ya... We stay a 3 nights and lug up a ton stuff - including beer...
My pack to the shelters is usually around 65lbs with snowboard..

For a GOS trip I don't pack as much "fun" stuff... But then tents and stuff weigh a bunch too... But still around 50lbs..

 

[kickstand]

quick question about the setup you rented from EMS:

are those bindings the kind that snap in to be fixed heel for descent (are they called randonee?) ? If so, I may have to try that out sometime. Good to know that stuff is available at EMS.

 

[cbcbd]

Yep, the bindings are Alpine Touring (AT), or Randonne, bindings.
These:

 

[kickstand]

OK, so Alpine Touring bindings click in. I wasn't sure if they stayed free heeled or not. Thanks!