Tuckerman Ravine Ski Day

PHOTO: Yours truly and Laura Todd above the lip of Tuckerman Ravine’s Left Gulley with the summit of Mount Washington right behind us. Spring Skiing in the middle of May is great fun. The Tuckerman Ravine Trail starts at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center on NH Route 16. Thousands of skiers and snowboarders visit Tuckerman Ravine each Spring. They must hike 3 miles and over 2000 vertical feet just to reach the bottom of The Bowl and then climb nearly straight up another 1000 vertical feet to reach the top lip of the Ravine.

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

I thought I was done skiing for the year and then my friend Laura said we should go to Tuckerman Ravine. Sure, great idea!
When the Sherburne Ski Trail is closed due to lack of snow, I give up the idea of heading to Tucks. If I can’t ski most of the way back down to the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, I am too lazy to go. But I haven’t been there in a couple of years. The weather forecast was super and it is always fun to ski with Laura, so I decided I’d like to go.
Laura is from Vermont and has made the Spring pilgrimage to Tuckerman Ravine a few times. She recalled being a 10 year-old kid and hanging out at Lunch Rocks while her father was skiing when ice came crashing down. She hunkered down behind a big rock for protection. Her father high up on the wall of the Ravine never had any idea what had happened.

My memory of my first trip to Tuckerman Ravine is when I was in 7th grade. I hiked up with the other members of the Henniker Outing Club. Our high school math teacher, Mr. Devantery, filled his Chevy van with a group of eager kids and he drove us north. We hiked up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail from the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center to find snow. My jaw dropped when I saw all the skiers and a few sledders. All we carried was our lunch and I wished I had skis too.
Last Wednesday we arrived at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center around 8:30 am and parked on the empty north end of the parking lot. I knew that we could take the shortcut straight to the Tuckerman Ravine Trail and avoid the crowd parked near the Visitor Center and the end of the now closed Sherburne Ski Trail.
Our backpacks were heavy due to having not only extra clothing and our lunch but we also carried our skis and boots. We wore light pants and long sleeve shirts and we put on plenty of sunscreen. We knew it was going to get hot and sunny.
We both were excited to get up to the Bowl to ski and we thought about skipping taking the short side path to view the Crystal Cascade. But the Cutler River was flowing high and it was well worth the little extra time to see the roaring cascades. The Crystal Cascade is 4/10ths of a mile up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail and is worthy of an out and back hike alone, especially in the Spring.
The Tuckerman Ravine Trail is rocky and wide; wide enough for a snowcat to drive up it. The Trail climbs and climbs but not too steeply and at 1.5 miles we reached the bridge back over the Cutler River. At this point the trail was now covered with packed snow and ice with some bare rocks poking through. We managed just fine hiking with just our hiking boots.

At about 2.5 miles we walked past the AMC Caretaker’s building at Hermit Lake, aka HoJo’s–because the long gone original building used to have an orange roof like the old Howard Johnson Restaurants. The deck was full of people resting, socializing and organizing. We hiked right on by, we were still eager to get into The Bowl of the Tuckerman Ravine.
As we climbed up the steep rocky trail we enjoyed big views of Hillsman’s Highway, a ski route accessed from a path from HoJo’s. We could see The Bowl’s big walls and, in the opposite direction, Wildcat and its ski slopes. The sun was hot and there was not a breeze!
When we reached the bottom of The Bowl we found some rocks near Left Gully to sit on while we put on our ski boots. There were some stashed backpacks and one friendly fellow hanging out. He told us he wasn’t a skier, he was just here to watch his friends.
Left Gully was full of snow and we could see a couple people climbing up. A few others were climbing up The Chute, another ski-able gully just to the right of Left Gully. In our ski boots and carrying our skis and poles we followed the boot tracks up the wall.
We were early enough that luckily no one was climbing above us and that was really nice because there is no chance that someone is going to drop something or fall on you! Only Laura was above me and I liked following a short distance behind her.
About three quarters of the way up Left Gully a man wearing skis was standing on a very small flattish spot created by a rock outcropping. He explained he was waiting for his brother who was already up there. Many skiers and snowboarders stop climbing before they reach the top of The Bowl, and that is fine because there is still plenty of snow to enjoy.

On this day I didn’t see anyone with an ice ax or crampons–I wouldn’t go if I needed that gear. You have to know your own comfort level and skill level. I know I enjoy nice soft corn snow.
Conditions were excellent for kicking in steps in the snow; it was like climbing a vertical ladder nearer the lip at the top. It is really steep and, honestly, the last 13 steps had me thinking that this might not be the smartest thing to do. But as soon as I was up and above the lip my doubts were erased and I knew this was the very best place to be on Earth.
Sitting on top were two people. A gentleman from Franconia, 71 years young, told us that this was his third trip to Tucks this season after a 24 year hiatus. And it was his brother down below waiting for him and he skied off over the lip and down. The other was a quiet young man that graciously offered to take our photo with my cellphone. He was soaking in the sunshine and taking in the big mountain vista and in no hurry.
It was so hot and, unbelievably, there was no breeze. With my skis on I jumped and started skiing. I stopped part way down to take a couple of photos of Laura. I had to be careful to set my skis’ edges in the snow so I wouldn’t go sliding down the mountain. Laura is pure magic on skis and she floats and flies down the mountain.
A good handful of people were now climbing up Left Gully as we skied down trying to stay far skier’s left so we wouldn’t sluff, avalanche, loose snow on the climbers. We decided we could tell the first timers to Tucks because they were the ones not wearing hats to protect their heads from the bright sun.
We grabbed our packs and hiked up to the other side of the Ravine to Lunch Rocks. There were about a dozen people scattered about sitting on the rocks. We decided to climb higher and sit under the rocks where Right Gully and The Sluice meet. We were close enough that we could hear and see the water falling off the Lip of the Headwall. While we were eating our lunch we enjoyed a commanding view of all the action in The Bowl.
We witnessed a skier lose his ski just after clearing the top rocks of the North Chute. The ski went all the way to the bottom of the bowl. The skier was okay but then he had to down-climb the steep slope instead of getting to enjoy a fun ski. The people below cheered and hooted loudly every time a skier successfully made a daring run clearing the rocks in the steepest gullies.
During our good lunch we shared more memories of our families and skiing. We then skied back down to the bottom of the bowl and then down the trail until the snow ran out.
As we hiked back down to our car we passed by dozens and dozens of people heading up for their first run of the day. Well, it doesn’t get dark until 8pm these days.
Have Fun.