A Great Tuck's Trip

Posted by Martin Silverstone | Date created 2009-11-08 05:33:00

Was this the greatest ravine visit of all time?

What makes a great Tuckerman's  trip? Well, it's good to go with a big crowd, although I've had memorable trips going alone, or with just a couple of friends like Margo, Terry or Tucker. And no, the bowl wasn't named after him, although it might just as well have been.  A big crowd helps, because then there are many hands to collect wood and set up the tents and cook and enjoy a campfire. It's always fun when the group is mixed with skiers and non-skiers, with Tuck vets and first timers. This way there is always someone to help if somebody is a little tired or not quite sure where to go, or where to ski.

Other good things in a trip are plenty of snow and warm sunny weather. But, then again, I have gone up there when there was almost no snow and that was a trip I will never forget. Of course I did almost get killed on a July 1 trip, when I fell onto the rocks and was lucky to walk away with just a broken collarbone.  A toboggan or two always makes for a good time in the Bowl,  but I remember having a great time using Chantal Archambault as a sled. And good weather isn't always critical. On one occasion, we were a small group camping out in the Gulf of Slides. The weather was horrible, snowy and cold, but we still managed to hike up and over the ridge and come down Hillman's Highway and then the Sherburne and then back up to our tents. On that trip it was still snowing when darkness fell, so we crowded into the biggest tent, which wasn't very big and played Razorback (a game with dice that are little pigs). No one can ever tell me that wasn't a great trip.

Yep, friends, sun, snow, and a toboggan or two all help make for a wonderful time in, and around, the glacial cirque that hangs just below the peak of the Northeast's highest peak: Mount Washington. In itself you can't really have a bad trip. Just getting down there and hiking up to the ravine is a physical challenge that would bring anyone great joy from elite athlete to an old fat man  (and, we had both on this trip!). What makes a truly great and memorable trip, however, goes beyond the number of people and the weather and equipment. There is always that one unexpected moment or moments, that will stand out for a lifetime, even lifetimes: Something that sears into memory because it is both incredible and unexpected.

We went down to the US with a group of nine, a good sized group. We had pretty good weather and a fun time around the campfire at Barnes Field. We got up late and were late into the Bowl, but that was mainly because we had enjoyed such a good time around the campfire. Leroux had shown us how to heat up rocks and place them in our sleeping bags to keep warm. Be careful if you try this though, because as Oliver found out, the rocks can burn a hole in your sleeping bag. But if you heat the stones up long enough, and then let them cool just enough, the rocks will stay warm right into the morning. Just ask Florence. We had a great tent (with a disco ball that provides a moving starry sky when you shine a flashlight on it). It all helps.  Em Legault brought her 10 man tent and so we all crowded in, and it was fun sleeping together. And maybe it was the rocks or the nice warm tent, but we all made it up to the Bowl that day. Ronan had to help Margo, Stone helped Emily, Emily helped Savannah,  Florence and Oliver carried all the beer, Leroux brought the vegetarian chili and Sonnel handled the video. How can you go wrong with a group like that?

Our big group of skiers, boarders, beer drinkers and tobogganers all got up there and gathered around our own rock, and put down our packs. When we looked up, there was Oliver and 11-year-old Savannah heading up the Bowl. We thought they were going just a short way up to where the Bowl gets steep and where there is a small ledge to put your skis on. But when they got to this point, Savanna kept climbing and she passed Oliver, who followed her all the way up to to a rock outcropping that sits right in the middle of a run called Hourglass. Oliver told me later that he hadn't planned on going that high. That's a long way up for a boarder as young as Savanna. I've seen other kids up that high, but they took a lot of coaxing to come down. Not Savannah. She clipped in and down she slid a long way, even managing to carve a few turns to the whoops and cheers of just about everyone in the bowl that day.

Obviously, we had a good time in the Bowl, but the unexpected moments were not over. The trail was still snow covered and as it turned out, the best way down the slope this day was by flying saucer and toboggan: These were two forms of snow travel that only our group had.  I believe that Emily, Savannah, Ronan and Margo all set records for the length of toboggan ride. Actually there was one other guy there with a sled. He had a super duper, high tech snow runner which  cost around 400$. We saw him ride that down from the same ledge Oliver and Savannah had boarded from. It was a crazy Rodgers-kind of thing to do. Stunts like this are fun to watch, but you have to remember there is real danger in the Bowl.

If you visit http://timefortuckerman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11450, you can see some pix and a story from a well-prepared group (much better prepared than we were) who had some close calls with falling ice, a hazard that you need to be very aware of while in the Bowl. Also it is worth reading an accident report from that day which describes a fall and an avalanche (even though the danger was marked as low.) The Report is at  http://tuckerman.org/accident/20082009.htm. This happened not in the Bowl., but on what I would describe as an extreme slope (Dodge's Drop). I don't want to be a downer, but like anything else you do, it's best to be aware of the risks in order to stay safe. This is what we did all day by not going too high and camping out in the middle of the bowl.

Of course back in the parking lot we had a few more beer and Leroux bought Savannah a t-shirt and baseball cap to commemorate her going so high in the Bowl. The ride home was pretty good too, although whenever we stopped, I had trouble moving again.

In our van we ate Triscuits with cheese and spicy beef jerky, and drank more beer. Flo and Savannah slept, while Oliver, Leroux and I listened tot the hockey game in French. The game was so bad that we were happy we weren't home to watch it on television.

Later, Terry told me his car had stopped at the MooseLook for supper.

Everyone on this trip loved the experience, especially Emily, who wrote on her Facebook:  "Hiked up Mount Washington and tobogganed the whole way down! Best day of my life." I thought that was pretty impressive especially because a few times on the hike up,  we didn't think she was going to make it all the way!

One more thing that I know about great Tuck trips: They come in bunches. You get an

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