snowmonster
New member
Date(s) Skied: June 15, 2013
Resort or Ski Area: Tuckerman Ravine, NH
Conditions: Sunny but partially cloudy, 60s, Corn snow
Trip Report:
This could be it, my last turns of this glorious season. Judging from recent reports, there was still snow in Tux but going fast. It was getting close to the end and I reached out to some AZers for a last stab at Tux. Unfortunately, there were no takers except for a non-AZer friend of mine.
We got on the trail at around 10:30 AM (late start). Everybody who passed us on the trail asked us the inevitable question: "Is there anything left to ski?" People coming down from the Bowl told us that there was one other person up there. Immediately, I knew that that was our own rivercoil. We took a quick break at HoJo's where we met another skier heading down. We then went up to the Bowl where we met rivercoil on his way down at around 2. He told us the conditions -- "spicy" entrance through a small waterfall, good conditions up high, dicier as you go down. He also told us that the skier whom we met at HoJo's had just finished the road race up Mt. Washington then hiked down to Tux to ski. Amazing!
My friend and I finally got to the snow at around 2:30. It was significantly undermined down below and the snow field was about 250 yards. We hiked up through the rocks then cut over to the snow field. That was a tricky maneuver since the snow field was separated from the rocks by a small waterfall. We had to clamber over the rocks and water and under a "snow bridge." My friend had a more creative to get up and over as she threw her poles and skis from the rocks to the snowfield! Anyway, we managed to get to our perch, which was a small shelf of snow which had pulled away from the rock. After a quick rest, we headed down. Unknown to us, a small crowd of curious tourists had gathered at the bottom of the run with cameras. They probably could not believe that there were all these idiots still skiing. We skied towards the small peanut gallery following rivercoil's expert tracks to keep us from falling into crevasses. However, I managed to blow my last turn. After chatting with the folks and exchanging email addresses to get their action shots, we headed back up again. My friend went up through the rocks while I booted up through the snow.
After another quick rest, we went down for another run. It was better than the first and a hiker had stopped in to take some good actions shots of us. I'll post up those shots when I get it from him. I realized that that may have been my last runs as the snowmonster so it was both a happy and very sad moment.
We started hiking out of there at around 5:30 and got down just before 8:00 -- picking up hikers and stragglers along the way for fine conversation. You always meet interesting people on the trail. We were pretty slow on the trail because of a few mishaps on the way which has me limping around today (it could have been much worse). The mountain always asks for a price.
For all you thinking of making turns at Tux, do it soon. This will be good for another week or two. I doubt July turns. Go now and make turns for me!
As for me, that's probably it for the snowmonster. Glad to have skied the northeast from February 5, 2005 to June 15, 2013. This ends the first phase of my ski career. I hope to return someday and make turns with you all. Always think snow!
Gazing up Sluice
Monster turns!
Getting to the edge
Another view up Sluice
Looking down Sluice from our perch
Resort or Ski Area: Tuckerman Ravine, NH
Conditions: Sunny but partially cloudy, 60s, Corn snow
Trip Report:
This could be it, my last turns of this glorious season. Judging from recent reports, there was still snow in Tux but going fast. It was getting close to the end and I reached out to some AZers for a last stab at Tux. Unfortunately, there were no takers except for a non-AZer friend of mine.
We got on the trail at around 10:30 AM (late start). Everybody who passed us on the trail asked us the inevitable question: "Is there anything left to ski?" People coming down from the Bowl told us that there was one other person up there. Immediately, I knew that that was our own rivercoil. We took a quick break at HoJo's where we met another skier heading down. We then went up to the Bowl where we met rivercoil on his way down at around 2. He told us the conditions -- "spicy" entrance through a small waterfall, good conditions up high, dicier as you go down. He also told us that the skier whom we met at HoJo's had just finished the road race up Mt. Washington then hiked down to Tux to ski. Amazing!
My friend and I finally got to the snow at around 2:30. It was significantly undermined down below and the snow field was about 250 yards. We hiked up through the rocks then cut over to the snow field. That was a tricky maneuver since the snow field was separated from the rocks by a small waterfall. We had to clamber over the rocks and water and under a "snow bridge." My friend had a more creative to get up and over as she threw her poles and skis from the rocks to the snowfield! Anyway, we managed to get to our perch, which was a small shelf of snow which had pulled away from the rock. After a quick rest, we headed down. Unknown to us, a small crowd of curious tourists had gathered at the bottom of the run with cameras. They probably could not believe that there were all these idiots still skiing. We skied towards the small peanut gallery following rivercoil's expert tracks to keep us from falling into crevasses. However, I managed to blow my last turn. After chatting with the folks and exchanging email addresses to get their action shots, we headed back up again. My friend went up through the rocks while I booted up through the snow.
After another quick rest, we went down for another run. It was better than the first and a hiker had stopped in to take some good actions shots of us. I'll post up those shots when I get it from him. I realized that that may have been my last runs as the snowmonster so it was both a happy and very sad moment.
We started hiking out of there at around 5:30 and got down just before 8:00 -- picking up hikers and stragglers along the way for fine conversation. You always meet interesting people on the trail. We were pretty slow on the trail because of a few mishaps on the way which has me limping around today (it could have been much worse). The mountain always asks for a price.
For all you thinking of making turns at Tux, do it soon. This will be good for another week or two. I doubt July turns. Go now and make turns for me!
As for me, that's probably it for the snowmonster. Glad to have skied the northeast from February 5, 2005 to June 15, 2013. This ends the first phase of my ski career. I hope to return someday and make turns with you all. Always think snow!
Gazing up Sluice
Monster turns!
Getting to the edge
Another view up Sluice
Looking down Sluice from our perch
Last edited:
Skiing in Japan perhaps?
