I'd had my eye on Abenaki Ravine last weekend, while driving to the Cog. This picture was actually taken a week ago from the Base Station Road behind the Mt Washington Hotel.
Abenaki Ravine is on the northwest side of the ridge between Mt Eisenhower and Mt Clinton/Pierce. That's Eisenhower on the left of the photo.
The weather today in the valleys was mostly sunny and in the 40s, though the summits were partially or mostly obscurred by clouds.
I parked on the Base station Road at the junction with Mt Cleveland Road and Jefferson Notch Road. I skied Mt Cleveland Road, which was well-packed from snowmobile traffic, to the Edmands Path trailhed. I applied the climbing skins at Edmands Path. I was surprised that Edmands Path had not been broken out by hikers and snowshoers, and only one set of ski tracks ascended, probably yesterday's tracks.
Since it was such a nice day, I took a 25 minute break, and cut a blowdown that was blocking Edmands Path.
Although I had a good idea where to leave Edmands Path on the climber's right, and which drainage to skin up, yesterday's anonymous skier had left no doubt which way to go.
The snow on the approach was a good 1-2 feet deep, but the temps in the 40s had turned it soft. Isn't "isothermic snow" the term for that wet mush that won't support your weight? Luckily, yesterday's ski tracks had compacted the surface just enough to support me, as long as I stayed in the tracks.
It was a nice tour up the brook through open, mixed hardwood and softwood glades.
Once up in the open gully, due to the higher elevation, the snow was a little firmer. It was not quite perfect corn, more like an inch or two of cream cheese. It's probably only a 30-35 degree pitch, not a real steep slide, but nice and wide. Needless to say, it was a nice run down that upper part of the slide. Sorry, no close-up pictures, I neglected to pack the camera today.
The ski out was low angle, so there were no great turns to be had in the soft snow. It had enough vertical drop to make a few turns here and there, though much of the way I was restricted to sking down the up-track to sustain momentum.
On the way down, I had an amusing episode of a snow bridge collapsing, which had supported me earlier in the day on the way up. It was amusing because it was such a warm day; in colder weather, it could have been life-threatening. I ended up knee-deep in 1-2 feet of water, between the two logs that had formerly been snow-covered. It never occurred to me that my skis would sink, when I popped out of the bindings. Putting on dry socks doesn't do a hell of a lot of good when your boot liners are soaked. A few minutes later, I was headed back down.
I skied down Mt Cleveland Road to the corner where the former railroad grade crosses, then put the skins back on to ski up from there to Base Station Rd.
It took me 3 hours to ski in, but just over 1 hour to ski back out. Not a bad tour. I can't say I'll do it again anytime soon, but it was a good choice today.
Abenaki Ravine is on the northwest side of the ridge between Mt Eisenhower and Mt Clinton/Pierce. That's Eisenhower on the left of the photo.
The weather today in the valleys was mostly sunny and in the 40s, though the summits were partially or mostly obscurred by clouds.
I parked on the Base station Road at the junction with Mt Cleveland Road and Jefferson Notch Road. I skied Mt Cleveland Road, which was well-packed from snowmobile traffic, to the Edmands Path trailhed. I applied the climbing skins at Edmands Path. I was surprised that Edmands Path had not been broken out by hikers and snowshoers, and only one set of ski tracks ascended, probably yesterday's tracks.
Since it was such a nice day, I took a 25 minute break, and cut a blowdown that was blocking Edmands Path.
Although I had a good idea where to leave Edmands Path on the climber's right, and which drainage to skin up, yesterday's anonymous skier had left no doubt which way to go.
The snow on the approach was a good 1-2 feet deep, but the temps in the 40s had turned it soft. Isn't "isothermic snow" the term for that wet mush that won't support your weight? Luckily, yesterday's ski tracks had compacted the surface just enough to support me, as long as I stayed in the tracks.
It was a nice tour up the brook through open, mixed hardwood and softwood glades.
Once up in the open gully, due to the higher elevation, the snow was a little firmer. It was not quite perfect corn, more like an inch or two of cream cheese. It's probably only a 30-35 degree pitch, not a real steep slide, but nice and wide. Needless to say, it was a nice run down that upper part of the slide. Sorry, no close-up pictures, I neglected to pack the camera today.
The ski out was low angle, so there were no great turns to be had in the soft snow. It had enough vertical drop to make a few turns here and there, though much of the way I was restricted to sking down the up-track to sustain momentum.
On the way down, I had an amusing episode of a snow bridge collapsing, which had supported me earlier in the day on the way up. It was amusing because it was such a warm day; in colder weather, it could have been life-threatening. I ended up knee-deep in 1-2 feet of water, between the two logs that had formerly been snow-covered. It never occurred to me that my skis would sink, when I popped out of the bindings. Putting on dry socks doesn't do a hell of a lot of good when your boot liners are soaked. A few minutes later, I was headed back down.
I skied down Mt Cleveland Road to the corner where the former railroad grade crosses, then put the skins back on to ski up from there to Base Station Rd.
It took me 3 hours to ski in, but just over 1 hour to ski back out. Not a bad tour. I can't say I'll do it again anytime soon, but it was a good choice today.
