Tuckerman TR Wed. 3/24/4

[Harkin Banks]

Sorry to get y'all excited, but I'll get to this in the morning...I am pretty wiped out, suffice to say that it was one of the sunniest, blue-skyest day I've had in the ravine. I went up with Rudy Garmisch and Squirrel Murphy, stayed at JDL and were up and at it first thing this morning. I didn't see more than 12-14 people up there all day!(12 skiers/brdrs and 2 hikers) We had the place to completely to ourselves...I've never seen it so empty!
Anyway, more tomorrow and pictures too! If it's not too hard to figure out, I shot some vid clips with the still camera if someone wants to explain the process to this techno-naif!
Til tom'w....HB

[skicdave]

Harkin didn't mention it, but he has posted several AWESOME must see photos in the gallery. Check them out HERE (http://timefortuckerman.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=572&ppuser=1610&password=&page=)

[M@]

Harkin didn't mention it, but he has posted several AWESOME must see photos in the gallery. Check them out HERE (http://timefortuckerman.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=572&ppuser=1610&password=&page=)
:freshtux:

[Moose]

Nice pics!!! You certainly picked a great day. Waiting for the full report...how is the Sherburne holding up?

[kfarrar]

I especially love the tracks down Little Headwall. Very Nice!!!

[Harkin Banks]

TR for 3/24/4 Tuckerman Ravine.
What a day! We knew that going in, and even though we also knew that the increased avy danger would keep us off the steeps, we said it was too nice a day not to get up there anyway. We knew we wouldn't be tempting fate too much since we had no plans to ski anything serious.
Up for breakfast at JDL around 6:30, but after fooling around for WAY too long, we finally hit the trail at 9:50. We took our time getting up to HJ's, with plenty of stops for rest, view and psychic rejuvenation ;-), eventually reaching Hermit Lake at noon. Again, with the foregone conclusion of no steeps, we took our time. We watched a guy be the first down LH, and I captured his tracks in a nice pic with the Headwall behind. After almost an hour at HJ's, we were off to the floor to see everyone who wasn't there. Though there was only two inches of snow that had fallen the night before, the wind did a good job of blowing it across the ravine. We'd be skiing across hard, wind-blown areas, then find ourselves up to our shins in powder! That caused a couple of falls, but since we started about half-way between LR's and the Lip/Sluice split, there were no long distance tumbles. Very strange conditions, as compared to what most of us are used to in April or May. The bottom part of the floor had what I would have to call "waves" of hard snow, like a huge washboard, with 2 foot ridges. Nothing you'd want to be going over with any speed. After a couple of Tuckerman ales (natch!) in the bowl, we were ready to head down around 4:00, since, as you can see from the photos (in the gallery) the sun was going down and the shadows were moving quickly across the ravine. It was at that time that we noticed the first clouds moving west to east over the Headwall, telling us it was time to go. Of course, the whole way down we enjoyed the nice sun-drenched views of Wildcat, and a midway stop for another Tuck ale,etc. The Sherburne was very soft. The upper section just below the floor of the ravine was a bit tight between the boulders, but the powder/packed powder conditions were superb. A rock popped up here and there, but nothing serious...really nice running. It was kinda funny...if you skied toward the left side of the trail, it was pretty slow, with a crust over the new snow from the sun, but 20 feet to the right, down the right side, we'd find ourselves in boot-top pow!
Of course the bridge at JDL came way too soon, as it always does, but we were glad to be down once again, basking in the glow of another beautiful day at our favorite obsession... See you again soon!! HB

[oldman2003]

nice report awsome photos :envy:

[PWDR8S]

Interesting report..... you forgot to add the av appraisal.... I'll go get Rudy to tell ya 'bout it.

Some great pics, 'cept the cheezy group shot... ;-) I've got some more once I figure out how to load them.

[Harkin Banks]

Was that a "cheezy group shot" just 'cause you were in it?! For those keeping score, since Rudy was the baddie in "Hot Dog", our Rudy Garmisch has morphed into PWDR8s. It shouldn't be too confusing since we both only started posting this week. I hope to see a lot of other T4T'ers up there in the near future! We'll be up for the Inferno, of course, but hopefully at least one trip before then, weather permitting. I'm sure from the pix from yesterday that I posted you can see how spoiled I am for the bluebird tux days! Can anyone tell me how I can upload the video clips I shot?
Thanks, HB

[TenSeven]

Great TR and pix. Thanks.

[RR]

Super! I can barely wait...4/3!!!