Oakes Gulf, Mt. Washington, NH - 3/30/2006

[Lftgly]

After 3 perfect bluebird weekdays in a row, Monday through Wednesday, 2 more near-perfect days were on tap for Thursday and Friday. With rain forecast for Saturday, and the snowpack shrinking daily, I made the last-minute decision to ski Thursday. It was too late to get any skiing partners, but I was not destined to ski alone...

Upon arriving at the Cog Base, I found 2 other eager souls heading up the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail to ski Oakes Gulf. A few minutes later, another car arrived, and 2 Vermont freehealers swelled the ranks of our pilgrimage to 5.

Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, Gem Pool, SledHaulingMedic

Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail

Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail

After a lunch break on the sunny East side of the Lakes of the Clouds hut, we ventured over the Dry River Trail into Oakes Gulf.

Zack ripping in Oakes Gulf!

SledHaulingMedic rips in Oakes Gulf!

View towards Double Barrel, Oakes Gulf

Oakes Gulf, view towards Boot Spur

Oakes Gulf, view towards central gully

Oakes Gulf, view back towards our tracks

Oakes Gulf, SledHaulingMedic skinning back up

Oakes Gulf, Zack's tracks

Mt. Washington, Zack skiing Crawford Path towards Lake of the Clouds hut and Mt. Monroe

Mt. Washington, skiing towards Ammonoosuc Ravine

Mt. Washington, Zach and SledHaulingMedic

Perfect sunset from the Cog Base, ending a perfect day on the RockPile!

 

[Lftgly]

Wow, that was a disaster.

The picts are here: http://community.webshots.com/user/lftgly

Sorry, they looked great while in the temporary internet explorer cache on my machine.

 

[Admin]

AFAIK, you can't insert Webshots photos into other web pages.

 

[riverc0il]

nice report! i knew sledhauler was heading that way today, nice to see you guys getting the goods on such a fine afternoon. alas, no way i could get out of work on the last day of our FY. :?

in reference to pics and reports of BC, my opinion is no problem on the more well known routes such as anything in the goodman books. those are the first books anyone interested in the BC picks up, so the routes are known and condition reports can certainly help folks trying to make a decision. more obscure stuff, pic reports and general location seems fine but i wouldn't post specifics.

 

[Anonymous]

Let's see...a perfect Bluebird day, five humans and one dog in Oakes. I donlt think it's getting overcrowded yet. I think the Ammonoosic (sp?) ravine trail is the ultimate "Joey Berm".

(The "Joey Berm" is a Loon Mountain Ski Patrol term. It referes to the lip that the groomers leave at the edge of the trail. "It keeps the players on the field.")

Lftgly: Thanks again. Great to meet up with you. Thanks for the pix.

 

[NHpowderhound]

I think Lftgly follows the unwritten ruels and regulations we all know regarding BC and stashes and I appreciate reading his reports.
I dont think 95% of the people reading these boards would have the intrest in slogging several miles to get a few runs of several hundred feet.
Keep those great reports coming!
((*
*))NHPH

 

[powderfreak]

Post away, none of these routes are ones that the average resort skier is going to wander up anyway...but they are also some of the more well known spots. I really am in the camp of post away. People will find stuff if they want to.

 

[Lftgly]

The poll results were as expected. Thanks to all of you regulars for your support!

Forgive me for cross-posting, but here are some image links that should load.

Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, Gem Pool, SledHaulingMedic

Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail

Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail

After a lunch break on the sunny East side of the Lakes of the Clouds hut, we ventured over the Dry River Trail into Oakes Gulf.

Zack ripping in Oakes Gulf!

SledHaulingMedic rips in Oakes Gulf!

View towards Double Barrel, Oakes Gulf

Oakes Gulf, view towards Boot Spur

Oakes Gulf, view towards central gully

Oakes Gulf, view back towards our tracks

Oakes Gulf, SledHaulingMedic skinning back up

Oakes Gulf, Zack's tracks

Mt. Washington, Zack skiing Crawford Path towards Lake of the Clouds hut and Mt. Monroe

Mt. Washington, skiing towards Ammonoosuc Ravine

Mt. Washington, Zach and SledHaulingMedic

Perfect sunset from the Cog Base, ending a perfect day on the RockPile!