ski boards?

[johnV]

First question:
What do you think of the idea of skiing
the ravine using ski boards? They certainly
would make the hike up easier but would they
be suitable for skiing down?
Second question:
I've hiked Tuckerman twice but only after the
snow on the trail had melted.
What kind of hiking boots would you recommend
for hiking on packed snow? My regular hiking
boots once got kinda wet even after "water
proofing" them after a long hike over a snow
field way up on Mount Ranier.

[skicdave]

Not sure about skiing Tuckerman's on skiboards but sure sounds easier to hike em up!

Re: hiking boots... Good hiking boots (not the light walking type) should be fine. Pick up a pair of gaters will really help when its wet on the trail (you can always get them at Pinkham Notch.. they have the short ones and longer ones). Waterproofing you boots with bees wax or other type of waterproofing will help too.

Dave
http://timefortuckerman.com/gifs/moose3.gif

[DMC]

Ski boards at Tucks - maybe in the lower bowl or on lower Hillmans, but I would want a bigger platform and longer edge under my feet on the Headwall or in the Chute.

[mengo76]

IT HAS BEEN DONE !!!

On march 25th, my roommate and I did tuckerman for the 1st time, on SKIBOARDS! So we can't tell you how it compares to normal skis, but it sure is possible. Carrying them of course seemed a lot easier. And we had no problems on the steepest parts of the headwall.

check out some pics from that day at www.fringe.org/mengo/pix/ (http://www.fringe.org/mengo/pix/)

l8r!

[snowboarder]

I don't know if I recommend this, but 3 weeks ago I made it up OK in sneakers. I put plastic bags over my socks so they didn't get wet. I also had a ski pole, which helped a lot. I didn't fall once, although my traction definitely sucked.

[johnv]

Thanks to everyone who responded. So much for
me being the first in history to do Tuckerman
on ski boards. Still I think I'll give it a
go, except no tricks.

I've found that beeswax is okay for waterproofing boots, but not great.

[mengo76]

So I am claiming the title of "first skiboarder on tuckerman's ravine" (along with my roomate), unless someone else appears... Am I famous now?

[VTrider]

"So I am claiming the title of "first skiboarder on tuckerman's ravine" (along with my roomate), unless someone else appears... Am I famous now?"

I skied the Left Gully w/my Line Skiboards (pair of Jedis)in the Spring of 98. http://timefortuckerman.com/ubb/wink.gif

[mengo76]

Damn, that was a short-lived title...

[kroto]

Originally posted by johnV:
...My regular hikingboots once got kinda wet even after "waterproofing" them after a long hike over a snowfield way up on Mount Ranier.[/B]

Try "NikWax". It's water based and seems to do a good job.

[Brian LeBlanc]

I hiked up to tucks on April 15 wearing some soft hiking boots and I had no trouble. The snow was soft that day so you could easily dig in with just rubber soled hiking boots. I would definitely say that if it gets cold, it could turn icy in which case I would use crampons. Grivel makes a good pair, I have grivel G-10's and I love them.

One thing to remember if you spend the night at Hermit Lake in a shelter is that if your boots are wet from the hike they will be two blocks of ice in the morning if the temperature drops below freezing. The trick to getting around this that I have found is to put your boots in a plastic garbage bag and sleep with them at the bottom of your sleeping bag around your feet. By doing this, they will remain wet but you will be able to fit into them in the morning. You can also use this trick with water to keep it from freezing. The night that I was there I had a six liter container of water and a pair of hiking boots between my legs and around my feet.