SkiSickness

Skinned up to the summit of Mount Washington with Scott and lftgly and skied the west side snow fields through Ammonoosuc Ravine for a 3658' descent. I asked Scott if he wanted to schralp the cog trail as we neared jaccob's ladder, but no, too much cabin fever had him in explore mode. After another 500', we broke out of the clouds, and then, there was no question about the summit bid. We transitioned at the very summit, where we ran into Mike Pechat. Much discussion ensued and some sick vids from cham were watched. We debated a run on the East Snow Fields or Airplane, but Mike pointed out that we had a small window and should just get the goods before the weather closed back in.

We got on our skis, doubled checked avalanche beacons, and skied off the summit in search of the passage through the talus. No need! The west snow fields were huge with nary a shark in sight. We skied hero snow down into the clouds 800' feet below. After probably 500' in near white out, we popped out under the cloud band in the Ammo couloir.

As the angle increased we really went into full avy mode, skiing one at time from safe zone to save zone. (Actually, we skied the top one at a time as well.) Slopes were cut. Snow was checked. I cut lose a minor slough during a check, and we watched it run most of the way down the line. Looked manageably stable. lftgly veered onto an alternate line to the right while Scott and I skied the main fall line in a mode where we could out run anything local that decided to cut loose.

At the bottom, we observed MAJOR avalanche handiwork. HUGE swaths of trees had been mowed down during the cycle, creating new ski lines and a big open runout.

The return trail skied nicely. Not a bad powder run from summit to car. Right up there with La Grave.



Skinning up the Bretton Woods backcountry.


Scott approaches Jaccob's ladder.


Breaking out of the clouds above tree line.


Motoring for the summit in bluebird skies.


lftgly was on a solo mission to Monroe Gully so we invited him to come with us.


We had the good fortune to run into my old climbing partner, Mike. He oversees any dicey skiing in level 4 avy conditions: Ammo Ravine quick before the weather closes in!!!


Scott and lftgly pose on the summit, which looks pretty well rimed from the 132 mph winds!


Skiing off the summit in the creamy freshness....


Scott spraying pow TGR style as he approaches the main couloir.


Pow from summit to car!


And more boring pow.... but level 4 keeps it spicy!!!


Tracking the business....sweet ride when you're floating on top.


lftgly get's in on the action....once he realizes it's not moving (much).


Ammo business with some new options on either side. Lftgly skied 1st one looker's left.


More options on lines newly cleared by avies.


Nice fan takes you WAY down....looks like the whole mountain side came down in a class 3-4 avalanche to do so much clear cutting.


The mountain waved good bye after allowing us to ski a great line in epic conditions.


And then, the clouds closed in and the wind whipped up as the next system began rolling in....


GPS Track for the ski tour.

Scott is a heliski pilot in AK during the Spring season, just in case anyone needs a lift! (He also holds Canadian licenses.)

Looks like some decent east coast skiing. Have you ever thought about starting a massive forest fire to clear some more runs?

East Coast Represent!

Yeah, I figured there ought to be one. I'd ski some steeper lines around the range but I'm chained to work until the cham redux next week. There are lots of exotic lines to hit because of higher elevation dumpage this year. There are plenty of 45-55º lines but they are mostly only 250-350m.