I just heard Tuckerman Ravine, the vast backcountry bowl on Mount Washington is open to skiers and snowboarders for the spring season. The report brought back vivid memories of the time I climbed up the side of New Hampshire's tallest mountain with a friend to participate in a major rite of spring: skiing down Tuckerman Ravine.
"You're doing great," said my friend who was hanging onto the snow wall beside me. "Just remember you need to have at least three points in contact with the snow at all times." It was the first time I had ever climbed a steep cliff. Perhaps inching up the Headwall in Tuckerman Ravine, as the skis and ski boots hitched to a baby carrier kept trying to push me back downhill, wasn't the place to start. I remember snail-crawling uphill, sticking my hiking shoes into gouge after gouge left by skiers before me and always keeping one hand or the other clinging to the snow. Heart-in-mouth, I reached the point where I could stop and put on my skis and boots.
"Steep. So steep you're toast if you fall," are the words I recall mumbling as I started downhill. When the sloppy spring snow started sliding under me, taking me twice as far downhill than expected with each turn, I wasn't sure whether to shout with glee or fear. After successfully steering around the open jaws of two deep crevasses that had widened with the spring sun's onslaught, I skied over to the Lunch Rocks where friends waited to start the party.
We hung around the Lunch Rocks - a ragged outcropping of big boulders where people sit to cheer and jeer at other skiers depending upon their skiing style or the spectacular aspects of their falls. Suddenly someone shouted. A skier traversing high above the Lunch Rocks had triggered a mini-slide. The leaden snow slowly surfed its way downhill toward everyone's skis sticking in the snow near the rocks we were using as chairs. We ran to grab our equipment before it was buried. Back at the rocks, skis in hand, we realized how stupid we were and how badly we could have gotten hurt. Basic first-aid kits are cached near the rocks by the Mount Washington Volunteer Ski Patrol, but you certainly don't want to need to use them.
When it was time to leave, we put on our skis and headed to "Sherbie," the ungroomed John Sherbourne Ski Trail, which starts at the base of Little Headwall and goes down to the Pinkham Notch parking lot where we left the car. We got four-fifths of the way down and the thread of snow dissolved in mud, so we changed back into hiking boots and trudged the rest of the way lugging our gear. Exhausted but jazzed we headed home. Definitely not a "been-there/done that check it off your list" experience. It's one I've pulled out of my memory from time to time and remember as a high point during my years of living in New Hampshire.
Tuckerman Ravine Is a Rite of Spring
Tuckerman Ravine is a vast open bowl perched on the east slope of Mount Washington, the highest mountain in the Northeast. Every spring, avid expert and extreme skiers and snowboarders make a pilgrimage here. The journey begins in your hiking shoes, as you walk up the 3.1 mile well-worn trail to the base of the ravine. Once there, you put on the skis or snowboard boots you've been carrying, hook the skis or board on a backpack, and start climbing up the steep slope toward the rim. (Unless, like some of my friends, you've just hiked up to watch the crazies careen down the Headwall or other gullies - that reach pitches from 30- to 6- degrees - in the ravine.) If you've never climbed nearly vertical snow-soft slopes before, it's a true adventure.
Be Prepared When Challenging Tuckerman Ravine
Tuckerman Ravine is extreme skiing and riding, so you need to be prepared. It's easy to get hurt here, and there's limited or no help if you have a problem. The weather on Mount Washington is notoriously variable, and avalanche danger is a constant. If you intend to ski or ride in Tuckerman Ravine, start by visiting
tuckerman.org, the Mount Washington Avalanche Center Web site. On this site you'll find weather and snow reports, weekend updates, photos, trip planning suggestions, and avalanche updates. Another popular site for people who ski Tuckerman is the
Time for Tuckerman Community Forum. Also visit the U.S. Forest Service office for the White Mountains National Forest, where Mount Washington is located.
Climbing up Mount Washington and skiing Tuckerman Ravine doesn't cost anything (except wear and tear on your body). If you want to stay in the area overnight, the Appalachian Mountain Club has the Hermit Lake Shelters and a $50 "bunk and breakfast" deal at Joe Dodge Lodge. For detail, visit AMC lodging in Pinkham Notch.
Tips to Find More Free Adventure Travel
Packaged and custom adventure travel trips with tour operators aren't free, of course, but there are lots of adventures you can enjoy and sample for free. Are you looking for tips and ideas about where to find an event or store where you can demo sports equipment free, or ski or snowboard without buying a lift ticket? Would you like to know how to snag a free trip? Visit
Free Adventure Travel Tips.
