<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 3/27/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>More detail: <BR>Got up before sunrise on Saturday, loaded the toys into my truck and headed to the North Country, catching the sight of The Big Bright Ball in the sky to my right. More snow than expected covered the ground by the Kancamagus Highway - though I had low expectations. <BR>Arrived at Pinkham Notch at about 8:30AM and grabbed the last parking spot. I ran into Rich and Nick and shared gear and then had the traditional skirmish between backcountry skiers - "Randonee is French for 'can't telemark' " which is countered by "Oh yeah, 'Telemark' is Norwegian for 'dont have fun on skis' ". <BR>Nick, Rich & I shuffled around the base and waited. Denis rolled in and shortly afterwards, Jim and Peter and Aron. We helped them unload so that we could assemble and initiate our tour. Snow extended down the Gulf of SLides/Sherburne Trails down to the bottom and good cover was to be had after we negotiated the bare wooden bridge over the Cutler River. Bare spots were found on a lower headwall of the Gulf of Slides trail and some water bars, too. I waited up for Denis a few times to ensure that his <BR>engine was running well. About halfway up, I deducted that he was doing well, so I turned up the gas a bit and charged uphill, encountering a 50 yard bare spot all the way to the avalanche gear cache. The ascent was elegant through the forest and Denis was able to complete the ascent in 2 hours, well ahead of his planned 2.5 hour scheduled ascent. <BR>Nick was already biting off huge amounts of vertical by the time I arrived. We ascended the Main Gully. I wore crampons and carried my ice axe because I find that it makes it easier. At the top, I traversed south and cursed a bit as I plunged into some krumholz traps and cut my hand a bit. <BR>I assmbled at the top for the descent, saying hello to some friends of mine who were instructing the NATO clinic being held there. Launching onto the east facing slope, I was tentative at first and then picked up a head of steam on the headwall, chanting out "Hey-Hey-Hey, we're here to PLAY". <BR>For the second climb, I eschewed crampons, feeling confident in the boot steps already cut by Nick and in my vibram soled Scarpa Denali boots. <BR>Second ascent was my most aggressive and finest as I let my randonee boards ride on the corn. On the next ascent, skies darkened and I was on <BR>my own. As I approached the top of the ridge, some rain and sleet started to fall. At the top, the precipitation picked up the pace and a gentle <BR>breeze - well, gentle by New Hampshire standards at about 20-25 MPH - blew it all into me. I figured that I should get serious about descending to the bottom and not relax tooo much at the top, so I went straight down taking the quickest most direct route down. I ran into more of the Malcyzk clan that had joined us - they were ascending. Halfway down, I switched gears and went left and into another gully, bagging nice corn and then out into the vegetables and back to my original line. <BR>I had a rough, but amusing bushwack out. I reached the plaid crew at the base of the Main Gully where we waited for Denis and Dana - yes, Dana had <BR>driven up 3 hours from Wstah and then charged up to the bottom of the gullies in 90 minutes and then stormed the ridge line just to get in that one 3,000 foot vertical run on corn. <BR>We shivered a bit in the chilly, showery, grey weather but were happy that we could allmake it up and help ourselves to generous helpings of corn. <BR>Everyone else headed downhill and Dana, Denis, Aron and I - we were the oldest ones - paused a bit to catch our breaths before we initiated another descent. <BR>I followed Dana down the Gulf of Slides trail and was very cautious, keeping in mind the thin conditions observed on the way up. This could be a tough little ski down, I thought. <BR>After gingerly making my way down two tight spots, I stood on a rise by myself and then pushed off down the narrow trail. I gained confidence rapidly as I pointed my boards into an exciting sharp right turn. I was going to pause to catch my breath, but the thrill of being on such an exciting trail gripped me, instead and I opted to open up the throttle. My <BR>Tua Excalibur Mito's rocketed me around corners and through rotten snow and corn and over risers and through dips - Gawd those boards rock! I let out <BR>some whoops on this classic Old School roller coaster ride and stopped when I saw Denis. Dana soon coasted in for a landing which perplexed me because I did not recall passing him - almost impossible to do on a trail this narrow. "I blend into the trees" explained Dana. <BR>The remainder of the ride was fanstastic, except for sideslipping the grass on the bare spot and a few water bars and the bare spots on the lower <BR>headwall. <BR>The lower part was a cruise and in contrast to the knee deep mud encountered on last year's hike out. I cursed my bondage bindings as we tromped over the bare wooden bridge over the Cutler River. <BR>Great day and it is always a treat when you can ski all the way down to Route 16 after worshipping the upper snowfields, bowls and gullies on The <BR>Rockpile. Get it now, because I don't think that it's gonna' last too long in The Presidentials .... let's hope I'm grossly incorrect.