Mark Renson
New member
I hustled up the Tucks Trail bright 'n early with gear on my back on Saturday. The hike was exhilirating as I set a tremendous pace. Somehow, I just felt very fresh and full of life - just glad to be back on the Rockpile, I guess. Hiking got treacherous in the slippery snow past the intersection with the Huntington Ravine Fire Road. <BR> <BR>The Son of Inferno event was being held on Hillman's Highway and I was assigned to watch over the Bowl. Folks, the heat wave on top of a lame Winter has taken its toll. Right Gully is only 1/3 skiable; the Sluice is hammered, the Lip only has a very hazardous line zig-zagging around crevasses, and ditto for the Headwall; Chute has a waist deep runnel in it; Left Gully is healthy with many bumps but gets a bit crowded; Hillman's Highway is skiable to the bottom but cannot take too much more damage; East Snowfields has a somewhat substantial amount of cover and ditto for the Gulf of Slides. <BR> <BR>I failed to truly take full advantage of the snow as I only got 1 run down the lower Sluice and another in The Bowl - laziness and wussiness. <BR>Snow was a bit rotten and grabby. <BR> <BR>At the end of the day as we trudged past the Connection Cache, the radios buzzed with a report of someone going over the Headwall and into a crevasse. We stopped a few who were staying at Hermit Lake to be on stand-by for assistance in a potential rescue. Alas, the adventurer (a tellyboarder) popped out of the crevasse and was OK. <BR> <BR>Sunday morning, skies were clear, but winds gusting well in excess of 40MPH blasted Hermit Lake and it brought some flakes sideways from some clouds hovering over the summit. Things never softened up in the bowl except for some reports of softening at the top of the skiable portion of Right Gully. I never did make any turns Sunday. I did work on my self arrest with an ice axe, some footwork and ice axe handling and other "Snow School" items. It became very chilly and breezy in the bowl and more than negated the efforts made by the bright sun's rays. <BR> <BR>At the end of the day skiers buzzed us with a report of someone going over the Headwall and into a crevasse. Alas, the adventurer (a snowboarder) popped out of the crevasse and was OK and we observed him very tentatively making his way down the Bowl. Yup, it was Deja Vu all <BR>over again. <BR> <BR>The hike down was pleasant, though treacherous and chilly. I was happy about this, though, as I still have yet to get my full "fix" of Winter during the lame-o 2001-02 season. <BR> <BR>On the way home, I opted to do some reconaissance work and took the US2-US3/I-93 route. Jeff Ravine may have some possibilities; #7 Gully in King Ravine has the bottom chopped off and may not offer too much more; Castle Ravine is toast except for perhaps a NE facing ribbon off of the Ridge of Caps; the entire west face of Mt Washington including Ammonusuc Ravine only has a few patches and is wasted. I saw a small ribbon (I think) on the east face of Lafayette. I did see a small ribbon of ice in the Black Dike with a snow blob at its base. If you want to ski in The Presidentials, you should have done it "yesterday", and definitely must do it now. Everything is roughly 4 weeks ahead of the normal schedule and deciduous trees in lower lying areas around the range are suffering from prematurely greeness. Sorry, but that is the reality of a lame Winter followed by an April heat wave.