Mark Renson
New member
Last week was a wild one in The Presidentials - 20+ inches of new snow and a few days where the winds broke the century barrier, including one day where the average for the day was 88MPH. That meant that some camping and reconnaisance <BR>was in order for the weekend. <BR> I set up a nest at a tentsite at Hermit Lake. In addition to the 17" of new reported at the HoJos snow stake, I was surprised to see the first avalanche report of the year. I also ran into a telemarker laying down a second ste of tracks on the Sherburne Trail - skiable for the top 1/3-1/2. Yeah, it's happenin'. <BR> Sunday morning, I headed up into the bowels of Tucks. There was more snow than ice when <BR>normally it is the other way around this time of year. Through the fog, I could see a long snow ribbon in Left Gully. Even with the new snowfalls, it is hardly worth skiing, though there are some possibilities. One could gain a <BR>tremendous appreciation for the amount of work by the Mountain Gawds needed to create the skiing that we enjoy during March-June by visiting the Bowl this time of year; almost 2 feet of new snow has barely made anything skiable. <BR> At the Lip, I encountered some nasty postholing in the punchy unconsolidated <BR>snow. <BR>Even though he did not ski, this Happy Camper is smiling: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/your_image.gif" ALT="Happy Camper"> <BR>... probably because he at least witnessed skiing on the Sherburne Trail: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/your_image.gif" ALT="Sherburne Telemark Skier"> <BR>The Lower Headwall was open ... perhaps too open: <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/your_image.gif" ALT="Lower Headwall"> <BR>... as in "Open Waterfall" <BR>The Bowl from Lunch Rocks ... <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/your_image.gif" ALT="Nope"> <BR>.... naw, I don't think so <BR>Roughly 3 miles and 3k feet of treacherous hiking brings you to nasty postholing and <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/your_image.gif" ALT="Snowfield"> <BR>... roughly 200 vertical feet of untracked punchy windblown snow in a whiteout.
