Gulf of Slides, Mt. Washington, NH - 22 Jan. 2012

Headed up to the Gulf of Slides on Mt. Washington this past Sunday with Scott Osgood for our first backcountry trip on skins.  We had great weather - windless blue bird skies and weather around 20 degrees Farenheight at the base of the Gulf. 

(looking up at one of the main slides in the Gulf)

The only downside was that we were less than 48 hours removed from high winds and an eight inch snow fall.  So although the sun and warmth surely helped stabalize the snow pack a bit, there was definitely a risk for some wind loaded slabs.  Tuckerman Ravine has a similar aspect to the Gulf, and the avalanche forecast for the ravine varied between Moderate and Considerable.

As a result, our plan was to limit this first trip to the Gulf of Slides ski trail and refrain from venturing into the actual avalanche terrain altogether.  When we arrived at the base of the Gulf, however, we found several other skiers who were far more experienced at negotiating avalanche terrain than we were, so we followed the golden rule ("Don't go first") and ventured about halfway up the slide in the photo above before calling it a day.  The others continued on without incident, but we turned around and began our decent. Definitely a good decision given our relative lack of experience in avalance terrain.  Also factoring into the decision: Scot Osgood hadn't been on a pair of skis in over 18 years! Nothing like taking that first turn on a thirty degree slope in the backcountry!

(Osgood looking confident before taking his first turn on skis in the past two decades)

Anyway, the Gulf of Slides ski trail was a challenging hike - about 2.5 hours to skin up - and a nice narrow run with decent pitch back to the parking lot.  All in all - our first venture out was a great success.  Enjoy the video!