Mt. Washington, NH - 4/20/02

[Lftgly]

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, 40 to 50 degrees. <BR> <BR>FriendsofTuckerman.org was holding their second annual Son-of-Inferno pentathlon race, so the parking lot at Pinkham filled up before I got there at 8:15AM. An admirable organization with good intent, one of whose goals is a "solution to the parking shortage in Pinkham Notch", they contribute significantly to the parking shortage on the one day they hold their Race. This year they had reserved part of the North end of the lot for themselves, and the adjacent side of the highway. I avoided the hassle of parking at Wildcat and taking a shuttle, by squeezing into the Direttissima parking lot just down the highway (which was also "full"). <BR> <BR>The hike up was the usual Tucks Spring circus, with demonstrations of every imaginable way to attach a snowboard or skis to one's back. The first couple runners in the race passed us as we approached HoJos, just before 10AM. The race course was scheduled to be set on the Headwall, but the recent warm weather had opened crevasses, making the Lip too dangerous to run a course over it. So the organizers decided to set the race course on Hillmans Highway, instead of the Bowl. <BR> <BR>Often it's possible, though dangerous, to sneak by the skiers right of the open Cutler River when the Little Headwall first melts out. Judging from a few tracks, it appeared a handful of skiers had found a way around it and down onto the Lower Snowfields, but it didn't look good from HoJos. I had planned to ski Hillmans if it looked like I'd have to hike down from the Bowl, as advertised on the USFS reports this week. Usually a less crowded destination, today I had plenty of company. The snow was very soft, about 3"-6" of corn, depending how much traffic it had. Not ideal for a GS race, but great Spring conditions! <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/1604.jpg" ALT="The Inferno finish line below"> <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/1605.jpg" ALT="Racers hiking up Hillmans"> <BR> <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/1606.jpg" ALT="Racers hiking further up Hillmans"> <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/1607.jpg" ALT="Racer at Inferno first gate"> <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/1608.jpg" ALT="Racer on course"> <BR> <BR>And this is why the USFS advised against going under the rope and trying to ski the top part of the Sherburne Trail. As the Snow Ranger's posting said, in about as long as it takes to say "this isn't bad...", the snow runs out. I will say there was more skiing than walking down to the first crossover to the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, but I had to take off the skis four times, and numerous times I had to sidestep across mud and grass. <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/1609.jpg" ALT="Sherburne Trails end">