Anyone been there? Any photos, stories, advice for someone going up there for the first time? I'm thinking of heading up sometime in the next week or two. From what I've read so far, it looks like it would be 2.5 miles of snowshoeing or hiking with crampons to the base of the bowl, then you can climb up the bowl a bunch of different ways and ski down, then there's a trail to ski back to the parking lot. It seems like it would be an awesome trip.
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Tuckerman's Ravine, Mt. Washington, NH
- Thread starter CanDo
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Well... been there, but mostly in the summer, very steep. ICE ICE ICE, since we had a wicked ice storm last week then lots of snow on top this week. It is truly beautiful, and I have never had the guts to even think about skiing it. Make sure you stop at the Pinkham Notch lodge/vistors center before going up, let them know you are headed out, and get local condisitions. Things get scary up there awful fast. If you have the time, check out the Carter's Notch area too.
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Washington is truly breathtaking in winter, it is my favorite time to go, but it is deadly as well. Never take ANY of the trails in the White's lightly.
The Ravine is totally cool. 
Ive hiked it many times but never in really heavy snow and ice.
Skiing down it always seemed crazy to me, but I was never a great skier.
Think of it as free falling into a boulder field covered in snow and ice, though I suspect the deeper the snow the more doable it is.
Good luck and stay safe. :thumbup:
"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space."
Big Mike
Ive hiked it many times but never in really heavy snow and ice.
Skiing down it always seemed crazy to me, but I was never a great skier.
Think of it as free falling into a boulder field covered in snow and ice, though I suspect the deeper the snow the more doable it is.
Good luck and stay safe. :thumbup:
"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space."
Big Mike
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A former co-worker is the innkeeper at the Tuckerman's Ravine Shelter. I've been there in every season but the most fun is early spring when skiing is all the rage. If you summit the peak of Washington in the winter, hook up with the guides at the EMS climbing school. I learned winter mountaineering and vertical ice climbing from them when I worked there years ago and those guys are top notch instructors. The hike itself is very technical. It isn't for someone who hasn't gone there with someone else before. Hook up with an experienced group and be careful.
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Kev, is the hike up technical in just winter, or warm weather as well. I want to hike it in the spring. Suggestions on gear?
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I've climbed to the Mt. Washington summit in the summer, but never any other season. The ravine is a truly beautiful sight! I would guess there would be some technical climbing involved once you got to the bowl; it's near vertical, I thought.
I read a great story somewhere about the skiing there. It mentioned one local crazy who dropped over the edge and held in a tuck the whole way down. I would have never believed this possible, but I remember being convinced the story was true as written....
Anyway, be careful up there. Climbers have lost their lives to exposure in the summer months on that mountain. Mt. Washington holds the world record for highest recorded wind speed (231MPH IIRC).
Stay sharp,
desmobob
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I hiked up it with my wife about 30 years ago. What I remember is the last couple of hundred yards are a boulder field...dying of heat and fatigue...and then we get to the top and see people hanging over a railing watching us, eating ice cream cones and drinking soda pop...because, you can also drive up to the weather station at the top and there was a snack bar there...unless I'm totally demented and my memory fails me 
Mt. Washington has the highest recorded surface wind velocity anywhere on earth, 231 mph in 1934. I would think at this time of year it would be a place to be careful.
Mt. Washington has the highest recorded surface wind velocity anywhere on earth, 231 mph in 1934. I would think at this time of year it would be a place to be careful.
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I hiked up it with my wife about 30 years ago. What I remember is the last couple of hundred yards are a boulder field...dying of heat and fatigue...and then we get to the top and see people hanging over a railing watching us, eating ice cream cones and drinking soda pop...because, you can also drive up to the weather station at the top and there was a snack bar there...unless I'm totally demented and my memory fails me
Your memory is correct.
I had the same experience, more or less. To make a long story short, my ill-prepared and hung-over buddies and I barely survived the climb and staggered to the top to find kids with balloons eating ice cream cones with their grandparents, etc.
It really wasn't the kind of scene we wanted to be rewarded with after what we went through to get there....
Anyway, it's a great place, well worth visiting. Check out YouTube for Tuck ski vids.
Stay sharp,
desmobob
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The hike up bowl can be intense. Full crampons and ice axe and are a must. Practice your self arrest techniques before you venture onto the snow. As the guides put it, don't carry extra socks, you can't change them up there. Carry plenty of water and make sure to have a solid turn around time and stick to it. In 2001, I was stuck on the Amonousack (SP?) trail which is closed in the winter but we ventured there anyway. With no cairyns and no trail markers, we had to turn back when we started fence posting and became fatigued. Make sure you have full exposure gear including goggles, neck gaiter, hat, gloves etc. Check the avalanche warnings and don't sacrifice safety for speed.
Again, I have to stress, get a guide if this is your first time. Having been to the summit in the winter and many times during the other seasons, I can say, I'm still not comfortable up there on my own. That mountain has a funny way of making you realize your place in the world. As my guide told me my first time up, "above treeline is where the native americans used to say the bad things lived." Don't find out for yourself the hard way.
Again, I have to stress, get a guide if this is your first time. Having been to the summit in the winter and many times during the other seasons, I can say, I'm still not comfortable up there on my own. That mountain has a funny way of making you realize your place in the world. As my guide told me my first time up, "above treeline is where the native americans used to say the bad things lived." Don't find out for yourself the hard way.
Well stated Kev, above treeline theres no place to run, no place to hide.
"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space."
Big Mike
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We used to do it every Washington's Birthday weekend for several years when I still lived up in NY. We'd drive up, stay in lean-to igloos, and trudge up the Lion's Head trail to the summit the next day. Some years snowshoes and crampons were needed, sometimes not.
I think I enjoy my creature comforts more now than I used to and am not sure how much I'd enjoy that exposure anymore.
EDITED TO ADD:
Oh yeah, don't forget the ice ax.
I think I enjoy my creature comforts more now than I used to and am not sure how much I'd enjoy that exposure anymore.
EDITED TO ADD:
Oh yeah, don't forget the ice ax.
Last edited:
I've spent a night in a tent above treeline on Mt. Washington in the summer because a storm was coming in. It wasn't fun - and that was in the summer (August '98). We spent the following night in the lake of the clouds hut which was a lot nicer...
Some serious weather out there -take care!
ilten