Tuckerman Ravine

[GeoffV]

Ended my season with a trip up to Tuckerman's Ravine with my son. Had to earn each turn to the tune of 3,100ft in vert hiked. Pictures don't tell the full story of the conditions. Base of the bowl had winds at 80-100mph. Pic taken at the top of the bowl had winds around 115mph. Conditions were hairy, boiler plate with just some areas of wind blown snow. I was puckering up going down that chute....

[JohnE]

That looks like a whole lotta no fun!

[Neil Gendzwill]

Are you sure it was 115 mph?  How do you prevent yourself from being blown off the mountain with a big sail strapped to your back?

[BlueB]

Can not be. That's close to category 2 hurricane. 

But respect for coming down in one piece. I'd probably just sit and cry. 

[Jack M]

Mt. Washington is home to the highest winds ever recorded on earth.  A serious beast to be reckoned with.  Don't think I would have ventured very far up, or outside the bowl.

[GeoffV]

Mt Washington Observatory is a weather station that measures the wind speeds. I went off what their site forecasted and what the local rangers said. Just to give a perspective Wildcat mtn ski area is across in the same valley and was completely closed with sustained winds at 70+mph. In the bowl you had to lean into the wind and couldn’t stand to long in exposed areas. At the top we weren’t fully exposed to the wind at 115mph , it was just tad up from us. I was nervous taking my crampons off to strap my board on my feet that I would get blown over. By the time I snowboarded down the chute the winds were down to 50mph which was a lot more manageable. 

Google it Mt Washington has recorded wind speeds at 231mph

[GeoffV]

5 hours ago, Neil Gendzwill said:

Are you sure it was 115 mph?  How do you prevent yourself from being blown off the mountain with a big sail strapped to your back?

That was my biggest problem Neil, I kept getting pulled back every time the wind would pick up and catch the board on my back. It was not an easy hike up firm snow no boot pack and steep pitch.  3 days later and I am still super sore from it.

[pow4ever]

glad to see you made it in one piece.

https://www.rei.com/blog/climb/fun-scale

would you consider that type 3 of fun? 

[BlueB]

4 hours ago, GeoffV said:

Google it Mt Washington has recorded wind speeds at 231mph

[SunSurfer]

I was a little incredulous at the wind speeds reported during your climb @GeoffVmostly because I would have not headed into that situation knowing that those were the weather conditions. I am really glad you are able to tell us of your experience.

[GeoffV]

On 4/6/2022 at 3:35 AM, SunSurfer said:

I was a little incredulous at the wind speeds reported during your climb @GeoffVmostly because I would have not headed into that situation knowing that those were the weather conditions. I am really glad you are able to tell us of your experience.

The Bowl gets most of the wind, what I climbed up was more protected and to the right. I certainly wasn’t going to hike up the bowl straight into the wind. The route I chose was the only skiable route that day as it offered more protection from the wind.

[Eboot]

Seldom do photos provide a true perspective - this appears to be as steep and gnarly as stories of your previous trips imply, meaning that it's probably worse.  RESPECT!

[powdahbonz]

Well done, Geoff. To those questioning the weather in the ravine and MWV, it is a gnarly place and those conditions that you took on..well, good for you, sir. Until you're in that specific alpine environment, you don't know. Having been up and having to downclimb before, the pucker factor is 11...not always the beautiful spring sunny-corn days to be enjoyed. Been on that summit in 80+ winds in August and thought my nipples were going to chip off..

[David Kirk]

I took a fall on Hillman's Highway about 25 years ago and I'm lucky to be alive to talk about it. I was hiking up, board on my back, when a cold front rolled in. The snow went from easy hiking to cramp-on only in just a few minutes. The problem was I didn't have cramp-ons.

I lost control trying to get my board attached to my feet and slid on my back, head first, 1200' vertical feet just missing the rock wall on rider's right on the way down. I eventually caught on something and star-fished to a stop at the bottom. It was a very long and scary ride. A friend on skis was able to bring my board down to me so that I didn't need to hike back up.

Had I hit the rock wall I'd have been toast. Tuckermans is the real deal and not to be messed with.

dave

[GeoffV]

Dave, 1st time I did Hillmans back in 1995 for the 1st time I had a similar experience hiking up minus the scary slide. Weather changed from soft snow to firm in 20mins. I bought crampons immediately after that trip.