Tuckerman's Ravine (Mt. Washington, NH)
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 2:01 am
So we made an expedition up to Tuckerman's Ravine. We had intended on getting to the summit, however the weather and the snow was not in our favor. We made it to the lip of Tuckerman's which is about 5,200 feet. Then from there it's only another 1,000 feet to the summit, but we were getting blasted with 75 mph winds. Also we narrowly missed a wet slab avalanche in the bowl of Tuckerman's by about 30 minutes. I descended down the Lion's Head winter route, and it was hard packed ice with a steep angle over 60degrees. A rope would have been really nice on that route!
Temperatures in the 60s and 70s the snow was melting furously. We started at Pinkham Notch at 2,000 feet and wore shorts on the hike up tuckerman's ravine trail
Climbing friends of mine Jurgen and Dan with the Lion's Head Rocks jutting above them.
The bowl of the ravine
Ranger station at around 4,000 feet. We changed into our winter gear here since the wind picked up and the temps were in the 30s
In late spring Tuckerman's Ravine is one of the last places with snow. There are no lifts though and it's one long line of skiiers who brave the climb up.
Dan waiting in knee deep snow for skiiers to pass us.
Climbing friend Kevin posing for a shot with the headwall of Tuckerman's Ravine behind him
We did not get to witness the avalanche, however it was surprising to see it because the Avalanche Danger was "Low" for the day, and had been lowered several days ago. None of the guys that I climbed with had ever seen one in person before. It was amazing how much snow had moved. Thankfully no one was in the path when it happened, and it was "natural" and not a human caused avalanche.
Skiier for scale
I ditched the poles and broke out the ice axe and crampons for the ascent up to the lip of Tuckerman Ravine.
Climbing partners Ravi and Kevin mentally getting ready for the ascent.
It's hard to photograph the steepness of this climb. But it's basically as steep as going up a ladder, and you just have to put your feet in the holes of the climbers ahead of you. Trying it with snowshoes is dangerous and near impossible. The rangers say that you should have crampons and ice axe. Most of the skiiers we saw just had ski poles and snow boots.
We tried to stay standing vertically while we climbed, but at some times the wind would hit us with ice spray and we had to just hug the wall while it passed. Also sinking in the melting snow was a problem, you had to move fast so you didn't lose momentum.
We take a break at the top of the Tuckerman Ravine Elevation about 5,200 feet.
A cloud is moving in. This shot also shows the lip of the bowl, and the insane dropoff that you can barely view from the top
Our chance at a summit bid is pretty much gone at this point. We strain to look through the clouds at where the summit buildings should be. We hope they will clear in the next 5-10 minutes.
Things don't clear up, the clouds stay low and we decided to take the Lion's Head Winter Route back down. We headed across some
bare rock to the Lion's Head.
As we got below the lion's Head the bowl of the Ravine was swallowed by a cloud. We hoped our skiing and climbing buddies were already heading back down.
A shot as we descended, the Lion's Head above us.
Some giant fissures open up on the Tuckerman trail from all the snowmelt.
We went back for another try the next day, but despite it being clear skies the snow was slop. We had started a snowshoe up the back route (Nelson Crag) and had to turn around above 3,500 feet because of boots being soaked through, and lack of energy. Still was a fun snowshoe on the Appalachian Trail.
Here is a shot of Mt. Washington from North Conway
He's going to have to wait until next year.
Temperatures in the 60s and 70s the snow was melting furously. We started at Pinkham Notch at 2,000 feet and wore shorts on the hike up tuckerman's ravine trail
Climbing friends of mine Jurgen and Dan with the Lion's Head Rocks jutting above them.
The bowl of the ravine
Ranger station at around 4,000 feet. We changed into our winter gear here since the wind picked up and the temps were in the 30s
In late spring Tuckerman's Ravine is one of the last places with snow. There are no lifts though and it's one long line of skiiers who brave the climb up.
Dan waiting in knee deep snow for skiiers to pass us.
Climbing friend Kevin posing for a shot with the headwall of Tuckerman's Ravine behind him
We did not get to witness the avalanche, however it was surprising to see it because the Avalanche Danger was "Low" for the day, and had been lowered several days ago. None of the guys that I climbed with had ever seen one in person before. It was amazing how much snow had moved. Thankfully no one was in the path when it happened, and it was "natural" and not a human caused avalanche.
Skiier for scale
I ditched the poles and broke out the ice axe and crampons for the ascent up to the lip of Tuckerman Ravine.
Climbing partners Ravi and Kevin mentally getting ready for the ascent.
It's hard to photograph the steepness of this climb. But it's basically as steep as going up a ladder, and you just have to put your feet in the holes of the climbers ahead of you. Trying it with snowshoes is dangerous and near impossible. The rangers say that you should have crampons and ice axe. Most of the skiiers we saw just had ski poles and snow boots.
We tried to stay standing vertically while we climbed, but at some times the wind would hit us with ice spray and we had to just hug the wall while it passed. Also sinking in the melting snow was a problem, you had to move fast so you didn't lose momentum.
We take a break at the top of the Tuckerman Ravine Elevation about 5,200 feet.
A cloud is moving in. This shot also shows the lip of the bowl, and the insane dropoff that you can barely view from the top
Our chance at a summit bid is pretty much gone at this point. We strain to look through the clouds at where the summit buildings should be. We hope they will clear in the next 5-10 minutes.
Things don't clear up, the clouds stay low and we decided to take the Lion's Head Winter Route back down. We headed across some
bare rock to the Lion's Head.
As we got below the lion's Head the bowl of the Ravine was swallowed by a cloud. We hoped our skiing and climbing buddies were already heading back down.
A shot as we descended, the Lion's Head above us.
Some giant fissures open up on the Tuckerman trail from all the snowmelt.
We went back for another try the next day, but despite it being clear skies the snow was slop. We had started a snowshoe up the back route (Nelson Crag) and had to turn around above 3,500 feet because of boots being soaked through, and lack of energy. Still was a fun snowshoe on the Appalachian Trail.
Here is a shot of Mt. Washington from North Conway
He's going to have to wait until next year.