Scott, Josh, Jon and I met in Concord at 7 a.m. this past Saturday morning and then headed north to the Tuckerbrook trail head. As usual, we debated our destination over the course of the preceding week. Scott and I have been chomping at the bit to explore the west side of Mt. Washington, including Monroe Brook. We also would love to take some turns in the east snow fields or in Oakes Gulf. But temperatures looked to be pretty cold above treeline and the winds were forecasted at 60+ mph, so we elected to try to find some snow in the trees.
It was tempting to make a return trip to Big Jay, which pulled down 40+ inches mid-week, but we settled for a shorter drive to the Cannon/Tuckerbrook backcountry (25+ inches mid-week) in hopes of finding the Big Jay of NH.
After Jon finished messing around with his K2 AT boots (those liners had no interest in going into the shell), we started our ascent. Scott and I have skied some of the 13 turns before and some of the steeper trees to the skier's right before, but we always cut back towards Mittersill. The trees along the lower part of the Tuckerbrook trail that we hadn't seen before turned out to be a revelation. First the steeper chutes on hiker's right and then the lower angled hardwoods to the hiker's left offered much promise (and unfortunately, many tracks from folks who headed north on Thursday and Friday).
16 March 2014
Big Jay/Jay Peak - March 8 & 9, 2014
Thanks to Ryan and Jocelyn for putting together an awesome trip to North Troy the weekend of March 8 and 9. They picked up Scott and we met at the blessed Concord Trailways on Friday night like usual. It was a tight squeeze with groceries, ski stuff, and their dog. But we all piled in and then headed up to Jay. Fun trip up, for sure.
On Saturday morning we dropped the dog off at doggy day care and then headed to the mountain. The place we rented offered discounted lift tickets which was awesome. So we all skied together the first half of the day before Scott and I ventured off to Big Jay by traversing the ridge from the summit of Jay. Conditions at the resort were good. Plenty of coverage for the most part, but the snow was not all that fresh.
The traverse over to Big Jay was pretty simple, especially because there hadn't been any fresh snow in a week or so. The path was easy to follow. We went buy the first to areas where you can drop down the side of Big Jay and went all the way to the jail bird chute - the illegally cut glade that more or less comes down off the summit of Big Jay. Obviously, we don't condone illegal cutting. But man was that glade sweet. Lots of untracked deep snow. Quite a contrast to the resort. Some sections were tight, others opened up and allowed you to string several turns together. And endless opportunities to jump off of rocks, stumps, etc. It is hard to believe what it would have been like over there this weekend after Jay picked up 40 inches a few days after we left.
On Saturday morning we dropped the dog off at doggy day care and then headed to the mountain. The place we rented offered discounted lift tickets which was awesome. So we all skied together the first half of the day before Scott and I ventured off to Big Jay by traversing the ridge from the summit of Jay. Conditions at the resort were good. Plenty of coverage for the most part, but the snow was not all that fresh.
The traverse over to Big Jay was pretty simple, especially because there hadn't been any fresh snow in a week or so. The path was easy to follow. We went buy the first to areas where you can drop down the side of Big Jay and went all the way to the jail bird chute - the illegally cut glade that more or less comes down off the summit of Big Jay. Obviously, we don't condone illegal cutting. But man was that glade sweet. Lots of untracked deep snow. Quite a contrast to the resort. Some sections were tight, others opened up and allowed you to string several turns together. And endless opportunities to jump off of rocks, stumps, etc. It is hard to believe what it would have been like over there this weekend after Jay picked up 40 inches a few days after we left.
11 March 2014
03/09/2014, Mt Washington Cog Railway
On Sunday, my buddy Mike and I decided to give the Cog a shot. After hearing about a spacious, wide trail, and nearly direct route to the summit, this adventure was high on my list.
We hit the parking lot around 8:30am. I have no idea why they plow the road and parking lot, but am really glad they do. It allows for a really good starting point. It was about 10 degrees to start, and despite some seriously high temps last week, even the snow at the parking lot was light and powdery. We instantly knew that we were in for something good.
We headed up, me skinning and Mike on foot in ski boots. He sometimes would sink knee or hip deep in the snow, but he was generally good if he stayed on the boot pack. As we started to ascend, I could not believe how wide the trail was next to the rail. In the lower part of it, the trail was even on both sides. I'm guessing the trail serves as an access road in the warmer months. Most of the time it's right beside the rail, sometimes there is a line of trees separating the two. In any case, it's about 20' wide most of the time. It was however, truly disappointing to see the pipes for snow making along the lower portions of the trail. I had no idea that this existed. It kind of took away from the BC feeling but whatever. I assume they don't use them until the Cog opens.
We made really good time for the first half of the climb. Mike struggled a bit on one portion where the boot pack overlapped on the rails. The snow kept giving away underfoot, and his leg would plunge down between the railroad tides. We realized that snow shoes really would have made a big improvement for him. Mike threw in his crampons, cut over to the trail and we were off again.
As the sun got high enough to hit us, we were down to t-shirts. It was amazing weather. However, as we left tree line, we were cooling down quickly. Eventually, it gets too steep for skinning, and we were both using crampons. You could do it without, but they were really nice to have. Now, moving more slowly, and feeling the wind, I was fully layered up.
Although the appeal of skiing was diminishing with elevation, we decided to summit because the weather was acceptable. The temp at the top was about 0 degrees and I the winds were forecasted to be in the 30's with higher gusts. It was pretty intense for the final 1/10th mile to the summit as expected but it was well worth it. We moved slowly and carefully without issue. We snapped a few photos and headed down immediately.
On the way down, we put on our skis less than a quarter mile from the top. The skiing wasn't amazing at first but we could make much faster progress than on foot and it was nice being on our edges. I could easily see the potential up there after a big snow storm, but most of it was blown off (blowing in the direction on Tuck's!). The Cog itself always retained a snow drift along side it which was great. There were a few short sections that we had to take off skis for, but as we descended, the conditions quickly turned from packed powder to powder with plenty of room for turns. We enjoyed the long ski down the to the lot and loved the fact that we could ski right to the car. The trail wasn't all bumped up and had tons of snow. Epic day. Sorry no pictures this time.
We hit the parking lot around 8:30am. I have no idea why they plow the road and parking lot, but am really glad they do. It allows for a really good starting point. It was about 10 degrees to start, and despite some seriously high temps last week, even the snow at the parking lot was light and powdery. We instantly knew that we were in for something good.
We headed up, me skinning and Mike on foot in ski boots. He sometimes would sink knee or hip deep in the snow, but he was generally good if he stayed on the boot pack. As we started to ascend, I could not believe how wide the trail was next to the rail. In the lower part of it, the trail was even on both sides. I'm guessing the trail serves as an access road in the warmer months. Most of the time it's right beside the rail, sometimes there is a line of trees separating the two. In any case, it's about 20' wide most of the time. It was however, truly disappointing to see the pipes for snow making along the lower portions of the trail. I had no idea that this existed. It kind of took away from the BC feeling but whatever. I assume they don't use them until the Cog opens.
We made really good time for the first half of the climb. Mike struggled a bit on one portion where the boot pack overlapped on the rails. The snow kept giving away underfoot, and his leg would plunge down between the railroad tides. We realized that snow shoes really would have made a big improvement for him. Mike threw in his crampons, cut over to the trail and we were off again.
As the sun got high enough to hit us, we were down to t-shirts. It was amazing weather. However, as we left tree line, we were cooling down quickly. Eventually, it gets too steep for skinning, and we were both using crampons. You could do it without, but they were really nice to have. Now, moving more slowly, and feeling the wind, I was fully layered up.
Although the appeal of skiing was diminishing with elevation, we decided to summit because the weather was acceptable. The temp at the top was about 0 degrees and I the winds were forecasted to be in the 30's with higher gusts. It was pretty intense for the final 1/10th mile to the summit as expected but it was well worth it. We moved slowly and carefully without issue. We snapped a few photos and headed down immediately.
On the way down, we put on our skis less than a quarter mile from the top. The skiing wasn't amazing at first but we could make much faster progress than on foot and it was nice being on our edges. I could easily see the potential up there after a big snow storm, but most of it was blown off (blowing in the direction on Tuck's!). The Cog itself always retained a snow drift along side it which was great. There were a few short sections that we had to take off skis for, but as we descended, the conditions quickly turned from packed powder to powder with plenty of room for turns. We enjoyed the long ski down the to the lot and loved the fact that we could ski right to the car. The trail wasn't all bumped up and had tons of snow. Epic day. Sorry no pictures this time.
03 March 2014
Mt. Hancock, NH (Arrow Slide) - March 1, 2014
Osgood and I headed up to Mt. Hancock/Arrow Slide for some exploring this past Saturday. NH received lots of snow over Valentine's Day weekend and the following week, but some rain on February 21 and 22 coupled with truly freezing temperatures the week of February 24 locked everything down pretty solid.
We discussed a few options - Mt. Washington received lots of snow the week of Feb. 24 with strong west winds, setting up some potentially great conditions on the east snow fields. But sub zero temperatures and 50-60 mph winds on Saturday scared us away. We talked about a repeat trip to Tripyramid (North facing slide) and checking out Mt. Hancock for the first time (south facing slide). Both received minimal snow fall during the week, and their respective aspects made it unlikely any significant loading occured on top of the boiler plate. We chose Mt. Hancock because it was new, and because it was south facing, and we hoped that might help it soften up a bit.
We discussed a few options - Mt. Washington received lots of snow the week of Feb. 24 with strong west winds, setting up some potentially great conditions on the east snow fields. But sub zero temperatures and 50-60 mph winds on Saturday scared us away. We talked about a repeat trip to Tripyramid (North facing slide) and checking out Mt. Hancock for the first time (south facing slide). Both received minimal snow fall during the week, and their respective aspects made it unlikely any significant loading occured on top of the boiler plate. We chose Mt. Hancock because it was new, and because it was south facing, and we hoped that might help it soften up a bit.
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