TDawg
Well-known member
Hello all,
Thought I'd share some pics from a recent trip up to Tux. I caught an absolutely perfect day in the ravine, temps in the 60s, not a cloud in the sky, no wind (yes, 10 mph TOPS on Mt. Washington) and got 3 sick runs in on my board.
I headed up solo as my efforts to assemble a crew were in vain, and I wanted to get up there while the snow in the ravine was still a) relatively flat (no moguls/slough runnels), b) top to bottom in the ravine, and c) A fully open Sherburne Tr. back to Pinkham. I got all three, which was very nice, I'm glad I didn't wait any longer (like last year
).
1st up was Hillmans Highway, which was a first descent for me. Looking back I should of done Dodges (Hillmans didn't really scare me enough ), oh well it will still be there. On the ascent I was glad I had crampons because I broke off the established boot ladder to climb the lookers left entrance to Hillmans. It was a very long snow climb up but a nice long descent, lots of vertical.
After Hillmans I hung at Hojos for a quick bite then made my way up to the bowl where I had lunch and contemplated my next line while watching skiers and boarders either eat $h!t or rip it up, both are equally entertaining. I took a picture of the headwall for future use once I was up above, and decided to pick my way down that. It was during this time that some skiers below Left Gully began to attract some attention from us Lunch Rockers, and looking across the ravine I saw 3 naked dudes hiking up the ravine and on up Center Gully, now I've seen it all. 2 of the 3 buzzed by Lunch Rocks on their descent and on back to their base, followed on foot by a USFS snow ranger, who didn't look too happy.
After climbing up the boot ladder next to the Lip I made my way a few hundred yards further up the snowfield where I spotted a nice flat rock to hang out on for a bit while I caught my breathe, took pictures, and psyched myself up for a gnarly run down. Views were first rate over to Boote Spur, out to Wildcat, Carters and beyond.
Starting my descent I took it slow while looking for a certain rock which signified the entrance to my line through the headwall. My line traversed to the skiers (boarders ) right a bit above some cliffs and ice falls (definite no fall zone!) mixing in a jump turn or two in between traverses, then the exit was a couple foot drop over a small crevasse into the vicinity of Center Gully, then the steep run out to the Lunch Rocks.
Upon reaching the Lunch Rocks, and feeding off adrenaline I took off the board and windbreaker and immediately decided on Right Gully and began climbing again. At this point the shadows were getting long but Right Gully was still in the sun and VERY soft. I took a break up on the Lion Head Tr. before strapping in and picking my way down, halfway down Right Gully some rocks were beginning to show and you had to pick your route wisely to spare your board a nice gouge. Upon reaching the LR again I was pleased with the day and had a few more bites to eat and hung out a bit before heading down, watching the sun disappear over the headwall.
The Little Headwall was wide open and parts of the river above it were open as well, I watched one naive skier in jeans walk out onto obviously undermined snow 4 feet from open water and put on his skis, taking his sweet time. I thought for a second I was about to watch this guy die, so I told him he might not want to stand there, he just looked at me, no answer, and kept struggling with his bindings. Unbelievable.
I didn't wait around long before heading down Sherburne Tr. which was fully open with pretty good sized soft moguls all the way to Pinkham. It was a very fun run down making banked turns through the moguls, so much better than hiking down thats for sure.
It was a great day in the ravine, I got in 3 lines I've never done before, no falls, great sun, met a few good people, ripped it all the way back to Pinkham. Awesome.
Pics are here.
Thought I'd share some pics from a recent trip up to Tux. I caught an absolutely perfect day in the ravine, temps in the 60s, not a cloud in the sky, no wind (yes, 10 mph TOPS on Mt. Washington) and got 3 sick runs in on my board.
I headed up solo as my efforts to assemble a crew were in vain, and I wanted to get up there while the snow in the ravine was still a) relatively flat (no moguls/slough runnels), b) top to bottom in the ravine, and c) A fully open Sherburne Tr. back to Pinkham. I got all three, which was very nice, I'm glad I didn't wait any longer (like last year
).1st up was Hillmans Highway, which was a first descent for me. Looking back I should of done Dodges (Hillmans didn't really scare me enough
), oh well it will still be there. On the ascent I was glad I had crampons because I broke off the established boot ladder to climb the lookers left entrance to Hillmans. It was a very long snow climb up but a nice long descent, lots of vertical.After Hillmans I hung at Hojos for a quick bite then made my way up to the bowl where I had lunch and contemplated my next line while watching skiers and boarders either eat $h!t or rip it up, both are equally entertaining
. I took a picture of the headwall for future use once I was up above, and decided to pick my way down that. It was during this time that some skiers below Left Gully began to attract some attention from us Lunch Rockers, and looking across the ravine I saw 3 naked dudes hiking up the ravine and on up Center Gully, now I've seen it all. 2 of the 3 buzzed by Lunch Rocks on their descent and on back to their base, followed on foot by a USFS snow ranger, who didn't look too happy.After climbing up the boot ladder next to the Lip I made my way a few hundred yards further up the snowfield where I spotted a nice flat rock to hang out on for a bit while I caught my breathe, took pictures, and psyched myself up for a gnarly run down. Views were first rate over to Boote Spur, out to Wildcat, Carters and beyond.
Starting my descent I took it slow while looking for a certain rock which signified the entrance to my line through the headwall. My line traversed to the skiers (boarders
) right a bit above some cliffs and ice falls (definite no fall zone!) mixing in a jump turn or two in between traverses, then the exit was a couple foot drop over a small crevasse into the vicinity of Center Gully, then the steep run out to the Lunch Rocks.Upon reaching the Lunch Rocks, and feeding off adrenaline I took off the board and windbreaker and immediately decided on Right Gully and began climbing again. At this point the shadows were getting long but Right Gully was still in the sun and VERY soft. I took a break up on the Lion Head Tr. before strapping in and picking my way down, halfway down Right Gully some rocks were beginning to show and you had to pick your route wisely to spare your board a nice gouge. Upon reaching the LR again I was pleased with the day and had a few more bites to eat and hung out a bit before heading down, watching the sun disappear over the headwall.
The Little Headwall was wide open and parts of the river above it were open as well, I watched one naive skier in jeans walk out onto obviously undermined snow 4 feet from open water and put on his skis, taking his sweet time. I thought for a second I was about to watch this guy die, so I told him he might not want to stand there, he just looked at me, no answer, and kept struggling with his bindings. Unbelievable.
I didn't wait around long before heading down Sherburne Tr. which was fully open with pretty good sized soft moguls all the way to Pinkham. It was a very fun run down making banked turns through the moguls, so much better than hiking down thats for sure.
It was a great day in the ravine, I got in 3 lines I've never done before, no falls, great sun, met a few good people, ripped it all the way back to Pinkham. Awesome.
Pics are here.
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