Tux 2009-02-02: Game on!

[jumpturn]

Got off to a late start skinning at 11:00. Made to Hojos in 1.5 hours and had some chow. Reached the ravine floor in time to see Luke booting up Left Gully and a couple of teams heading for Right Gully. Skinned up towards Chute and transitioned in a safe zone. There was a precarious looking 3-4' crown under the Chute and what seemed like some wind affected snow right in the business zone. After an extensive discussion with one of our trusty snow rangers and speculation about what might cut loose, I decided the snow conditions were a little sketchy for 50º, and so headed up up Left Gully to see exactly how sketchy they were. Left Gully was wind affected and fluted. The snow was pretty chalky, but the skiing was no problem as long as you took it easy. Traversed over to lunch rocks and booted up Right Gully. Skied over to the knife edge and dropped into lower Sluice. This side had a wind crust and so one had to pay attention as much as the other side. It also had some propensity to fracture, indicating the upper end of moderate. Skied out the Little Head Wall. There was some open water that one skirted on the right. Otherwise, everything was covered down to Hojos. The Sherburne trail was covered and skied well. There were a couple boiler plate sections, but nothing consequential. Down at 4:00.

All in all, a good outing to check out my 183s on local terrain. They worked fine. I was hoping for a little friendlier conditions so I could do the steeper lines, but this was a good reacquaintance with Mt. Washington skiing. You get to ski what the mountain dictates. In any case, the temperatures were moderate and the wind was low, but there was little sun.

Maybe now we can deprecate the lame resort TRs (eg, epic 2" power day at Cannon) and focus on the off-piste!


Oops! Castle Ravine.


Oops! King Ravine.


Boott Spur gullies from Hojos.


Dodge's Drop looking kind of feasible.


Duchess looking like it needs skiing.


Skiers and boarders reaching the floor of Tuckerman Ravine.


Luke booting up Left Gully.


Boot packing teams preparing Right Gully.


Heading for Loberster Claw.


Chute looking like it needs skiing.

[RR]

It looks real good. In another couple weeks it might even get Phat!

[tig]

and a fun day it seems. Nice..

[surfsnowywaves]

Hotdamn! You know, that first pic of Hillman's area had me thinking the Duchess was looking pretty nice...

It's filling in reeeeaaal nice, or so it appears. I wonder if this is the case with other gullies in the whites...

[icelanticskier]

wow! busy day up there for mid week. guess it's time to get to more exotic spots right from the get-go. thanx for the report and update.
rog

[jumpturn]

Originally Posted by surfsnowywaves

Hotdamn! You know, that first pic of Hillman's area had me thinking the Duchess was looking pretty nice...

It's filling in reeeeaaal nice, or so it appears. I wonder if this is the case with other gullies in the whites...

Yeah, Monroe Brook was looking very white. Probably some good avis coming down it. The West side of Mount Washington is generally looking pretty good too.

[jumpturn]

Originally Posted by icelanticskier

wow! busy day up there for mid week. guess it's time to get to more exotic spots right from the get-go.

The crowds make nice boot packs, if you're looking to go up Right Gully or the Claw. The other lines are empty.

[M@]

MMMmmm... fresh tux. Nice TR; Best Beta of the year I'd say.

Uh huh huh... he said Deprecate.

M@

[bucksaw]

Originally Posted by jumpturn

Maybe now we can deprecate the lame resort TRs (eg, epic 2" power day at Cannon) and focus on the off-piste!

Come on man, 2" inches IS epic at Cannon.

Glad to see the weather cleared a enough for someone to have a good day. Thanks for posting the pics.

[mtd2007]

way to get after it -

[icelanticskier]

Originally Posted by jumpturn

The crowds make nice boot packs, if you're looking to go up Right Gully or the Claw. The other lines are empty.

nice boot packs? funny. i could write a book about good and bad boot packs. looks to me that there were way too many boot packs put in by some pretty confused folks and one in particular that was pretty darn exposed. crowds make for too many and erratic boot packs imho. whatever, it is tucks and to be expected.
rog

[drewvw]

looking good, I need to get up there before I head west in a month.

[Lost Kodiak]

Awesome pics! Where were you when you took the ones looking at Right Gully and Lobster Claw? Up high in Left Gully? The pics came out really nice...
And King Ravine?...

[tig]

Originally Posted by jumpturn

Yeah, Monroe Brook was looking very white. Probably some good avis coming down it. The West side of Mount Washington is generally looking pretty good too.

There havent been those many southeast->northwest storms which fill these gullies. I am guessing there must have been some real strange wind patterns..

[davidhowland14]

great pics...major jealousy going on here. rep delivered.