Tuckerman Ravine
Encyclopedia
Tuckerman Ravine is a glacial cirque sloping eastward on the southeast face of Mt. Washington
, in the White Mountains
of New Hampshire
. Although it draws hiker
s throughout the year, and skiers
throughout the winter, it is best known for the many "spring skiers" who ascend it on foot and ski down the steep slope from early April into July. In this period, the temperatures are relatively mild but the natural snowpack — which averages up to 55 feet (16.8 m) in a typical winter — is still adequate to ski most seasons. The record-setting high winds atop Mount Washington scour a massive amount of snow from the surrounding highlands and drop it here or in the adjacent Huntington Ravine
.
Literally thousands of people have been known to ski Tuckerman in a single spring weekend. Skiing or ice climbing
is not limited to this time, but the avalanche
danger requires special training to assess and navigate the ravine safely during the winter. There have been 10 avalanche fatalities recorded (including one expert rescuer
during a 1982 search) from 34 avalanche incidents in the area in the past 60 years.
The ravine is most easily accessed from the AMC
lodge on Route 16
at Pinkham Notch
, via the moderate 2.4 miles (3.9 km) lower section of the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. This trail is maintained in winter and spring as a "cat"
trail, and parallels the Sherburne Trail used for ski and snowboard descents. It is a 1850 feet (563.9 m) elevation drop from the foot of Tuckerman to the lodge.
who studied alpine plants and lichen
s in the area in the 1830s and 1840s. According to the New England Ski Museum
, the first recorded use of skis on Mount Washington was by a Dr. Wiskott of Breslau, Germany, who skied on the mountain in 1899, while the first skier in Tuckerman was John S. Apperson
of Schenectady, New York
, in April 1914.
Races held in the 1930s attracted large groups of spectators and skiers. Harvard
-Dartmouth
slaloms, Olympic
tryouts, and giant slaloms all were held in the ravine in that decade. But the races that caught the imagination more than any other, the races that still are talked about by Tuckerman skiers, were the three American Infernos of the 1930s.
Just two years after the headwall was first run on April 11, 1931 by Dartmouth men John Carleton and Charles N. Proctor, the Ski Club Hochgebrige proposed a 4.2-mile summit-to-base race on Mt. Washington, to be called the American Inferno, named for a similar race held in Mürren
, Switzerland. The American Inferno races were only run in 1933, '34 and most famously on April 16, 1939. A shortened course was run in the spring of 1952 (because of a cloud-shrouded summit) that started just above the Lip of the Headwall, and was won by Dartmouth's Bill Beck. The races featured famous skiers like Dick Durrance
('34 and '39), Brooks Dodge ('52) and Toni Matt
('39), who accidentally straight-lined the steep headwall for the win, a still-impressive achievement.
Mount Washington (New Hampshire)
Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at , famous for dangerously erratic weather. For 76 years, a weather observatory on the summit held the record for the highest wind gust directly measured at the Earth's surface, , on the afternoon of April 12, 1934...
, in the White Mountains
White Mountains (New Hampshire)
The White Mountains are a mountain range covering about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, they are considered the most rugged mountains in New England...
of New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
. Although it draws hiker
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
s throughout the year, and skiers
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
throughout the winter, it is best known for the many "spring skiers" who ascend it on foot and ski down the steep slope from early April into July. In this period, the temperatures are relatively mild but the natural snowpack — which averages up to 55 feet (16.8 m) in a typical winter — is still adequate to ski most seasons. The record-setting high winds atop Mount Washington scour a massive amount of snow from the surrounding highlands and drop it here or in the adjacent Huntington Ravine
Huntington Ravine
Huntington Ravine is a glacial cirque on Mount Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It is named for Joshua H. Huntington, the Principal Assistant to State Geologist Charles H...
.
Literally thousands of people have been known to ski Tuckerman in a single spring weekend. Skiing or ice climbing
Ice climbing
Ice climbing, as the term indicates, is the activity of ascending inclined ice formations. Usually, ice climbing refers to roped and protected climbing of features such as icefalls, frozen waterfalls, and cliffs and rock slabs covered with ice refrozen from flows of water. For the purposes of...
is not limited to this time, but the avalanche
Avalanche
An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
danger requires special training to assess and navigate the ravine safely during the winter. There have been 10 avalanche fatalities recorded (including one expert rescuer
Mountain rescue
Mountain rescue refers to search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment, although the term is sometimes also used to apply to search and rescue in other wilderness environments. The difficult and remote nature of the terrain in which mountain rescue often occurs has resulted...
during a 1982 search) from 34 avalanche incidents in the area in the past 60 years.
The ravine is most easily accessed from the AMC
Appalachian Mountain Club
The Appalachian Mountain Club is one of the United States' oldest outdoor groups. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., with 12 chapters stretching from Maine to Washington, D.C...
lodge on Route 16
New Hampshire Route 16
New Hampshire Route 16 is a long north–south highway in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Much of its length is close to the border with Maine. NH 16 is the main route from the Seacoast region north to the Lakes Region and the White Mountains. The section from Portsmouth to Milton is a...
at Pinkham Notch
Pinkham Notch
Pinkham Notch is a mountain pass in the White Mountains of north-central New Hampshire, United States. The notch is a result of extensive erosion by the Laurentide ice sheet during the Wisconsinian ice age. Pinkham Notch was eroded into a glacial U-shaped valley whose walls are formed by the...
, via the moderate 2.4 miles (3.9 km) lower section of the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. This trail is maintained in winter and spring as a "cat"
Sno-Cat
The Tucker Sno-Cat is a tracked vehicle or a family of tracked vehicles for snow conditions.Different models have been used for expeditions in the Arctic and the Antarctic during the second half of the 20th century...
trail, and parallels the Sherburne Trail used for ski and snowboard descents. It is a 1850 feet (563.9 m) elevation drop from the foot of Tuckerman to the lodge.
Anatomy of the Bowl
Tuckerman Ravine has many different runs that span the bowl, all as steep as 40 to 55 degrees. From the base of the bowl, the run farthest to the left is known simply as "Left Gully" and is one of the easiest runs. Moving to the right, the runs are more challenging and steeper. More to the right, "The Chute" drops between two large cliffs that slowly narrow the run. Still farther to the right are the Center Gullies, which includes "The Icefall", which is 55 degrees, and requires skiers to go off cliffs as tall as 25 feet (7.6 m). Right of the "The Icefall" is "The Lip". It is an open run that averages between 50 and 55 degrees. "Right Gully", one of the bowl's easier runs, drops into "The Sluice" about halfway down, and averages about 40 degrees.History
The ravine is named after botanist Edward TuckermanEdward Tuckerman
Edward Tuckerman was an American botanist and professor who made significant contributions to the study of lichens and other alpine plants. He was a founding member of the Natural History Society of Boston and most of his career was spent at Amherst College...
who studied alpine plants and lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
s in the area in the 1830s and 1840s. According to the New England Ski Museum
New England Ski Museum
The New England Ski Museum is a non-profit operation in Franconia, New Hampshire designed to preserve the history of commercial and recreational skiing, both alpine and cross-country, in the northeastern United States....
, the first recorded use of skis on Mount Washington was by a Dr. Wiskott of Breslau, Germany, who skied on the mountain in 1899, while the first skier in Tuckerman was John S. Apperson
John S. Apperson
John Samuel Apperson, Jr. , known as Appie, was a General Electric engineer best known for his role in the protection of the Adirondack Forest Preserve.-Biography:...
of Schenectady, New York
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
, in April 1914.
Races held in the 1930s attracted large groups of spectators and skiers. Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
-Dartmouth
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
slaloms, Olympic
Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...
tryouts, and giant slaloms all were held in the ravine in that decade. But the races that caught the imagination more than any other, the races that still are talked about by Tuckerman skiers, were the three American Infernos of the 1930s.
Just two years after the headwall was first run on April 11, 1931 by Dartmouth men John Carleton and Charles N. Proctor, the Ski Club Hochgebrige proposed a 4.2-mile summit-to-base race on Mt. Washington, to be called the American Inferno, named for a similar race held in Mürren
Mürren
Mürren is a traditional Walser mountain village in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, at an elevation of 1,650 m above sea level and unreachable by public road....
, Switzerland. The American Inferno races were only run in 1933, '34 and most famously on April 16, 1939. A shortened course was run in the spring of 1952 (because of a cloud-shrouded summit) that started just above the Lip of the Headwall, and was won by Dartmouth's Bill Beck. The races featured famous skiers like Dick Durrance
Dick Durrance
Richard "Dick" Henry Durrance, Jr. was a 17-time national championship skier and one of the first American skiers to compete successfully with European skiers....
('34 and '39), Brooks Dodge ('52) and Toni Matt
Toni Matt
Anton Matt was a ski racer.Matt's most renowned feat came in 1939, when in the third "American Inferno," a top-to-bottom race of Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, he simply schussed the steep and infamous headwall...
('39), who accidentally straight-lined the steep headwall for the win, a still-impressive achievement.
See also
- Presidential RangePresidential RangeThe Presidential Range is a mountain range located in the White Mountains of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Containing the highest peaks of the Whites, its most notable summits are named for American Presidents, followed by prominent public figures of the 18th and 19th centuries.Mt...
- White Mountain National ForestWhite Mountain National ForestThe White Mountain National Forest is a federally-managed forest contained within the White Mountains in the northeastern United States. It was established in 1918 as a result of the Weeks Act of 1911; federal acquisition of land had already begun in 1914. It has a total area of...
- List of New Hampshire-related topics
- Tuckerman Brewing CompanyTuckerman Brewing CompanyTuckerman Brewing Company is a brewery in Conway, New Hampshire. Named after the nearby Tuckerman Ravine, the brewery currently produces three year round beers, the self-named pale ale, an Altbier, and the 6288 Stout. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the stout go to support the Mount...
External links
- Official USFS website of Tuckerman area
- Time for Tuckerman — community and information site for extreme skiing on Tuckerman Ravine
- "Intrepid Descent" — film documentary on Tuckerman Ravine, 2008
- Friends of Tuckerman Ravine — nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of the natural ravine
- "For Daredevil Skiing, the Season Is Now" — The New York Times (May 25, 2007)
- "Long Way to the Top" — April 2007 article on spring skiing at Tuckerman