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View Full Version : Son of Inferno Apr 21 - Report and OOdles of Photos


skicdave
04-23-2001, 05:26 PM
Hi all,

Back from an AWESOME (and busy) weekend at Tucks Apr 21. As usual never trust or get discouraged by weather reports!

Arriving at 8:30am was a mistake... By that time hundreds of people had already arrived and filled up every parking spot around Pinkham. The AMC however had a shuttle service running to Wildcat down the road to solve the parking issue ($5). Parking along Route 16 is a no no and can result in a fine of $100 US I am told.

The Tuckerman Ravine trail was PACKED all the way up. HoJo's was a hopin, the trail up to the bowl was backed up most of the time (didn't notice any trail rage luckily).

The 1st annual 'Son of Inferno' was held Saturday by the way. The runners/hikers who were... er... running/hiking up the trail had to fight though traffic most of the way.
(More on this later).

http://timefortuckerman.com/apr21-2001/Son_of_Inferno.jpg

Conditions: TONS of snow still. Headwall covered but showing rocks and the usual ice falls. People were still able to ski some parts of the summit above Tuckerman Ravine although being exposed to the sun more, this area isn't going to be skiable for too much longer. Hillmans, Dodges Drop, Lower Snowfields and Little Headwall all well covered. Sherbourne trail well covered with only a few bare patches near the bottom... oh yes... LOTS of moguls on the Sherbourne.

Lunch rocks was very busy. Far reaching areas of the ravine served as lunch rock overflow. The base of the ravine was reserved for the Son of Inferno finish area which attracted much attention.

With an overwelming crowd of onlookers, there were lots of ambitious/crazy skiers/riders out to please the crowd.. mainly jumps off the ice falls center ravine on the headwall. Best jump of the day was around 4pm or so... front flip with a solid landing. The crowd left pleased needless to say.

I have over 400 photos shot Saturday including lots of jumps and spills along with some of the Son of Inferno race for those interested in what they missed. See them all at http://timefortuckerman.com/photos2001-04-21.html?1

For those not there Saturday... I am so sorry for you. It was one of the best days I've seen in the ravine in a long time. Fantastic weather, fantastic crowd, fantastic skiing, fantastic skiout and of course the usual free lift tickets... email for a hanky if you need one.

Cheers!

Dave

http://timefortuckerman.com/gifs/moose3a.gif

yikes!
04-24-2001, 09:29 AM
Dave, just need to comment on your updates. This is a great site and really gets folks pumped for Tucks -- I can't wait to get up there in the next couple weeks (spectator sport for me!). Photos are great, notes / messages are fantastic, keep it up, we all love it!

saxman
04-24-2001, 11:24 AM
Let me be first in line for those hankies. Damn! Sometimes ya just gotta go for it. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn.............., -Damn! /Saxman

mengo76
04-24-2001, 02:18 PM
dave, i was up at tux on the 15th, and in know you were there both that weekend and this past one... so how did the two weekends compare? was the snow still "bulletproof" this weekend? etc etc etc...

also, i saw the pics, ther are soooooo many ppl! was that the most you ever seen there? how would that compare as a multiple of the number who were there the previous weekend, or compared to the second most crowded weekend you ever experienced?


---mengo.


[This message has been edited by mengo76 (edited April 24, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by mengo76 (edited April 24, 2001).]

skicdave
04-24-2001, 02:55 PM
Hi Mengo,

The snow was far from bulletproof... I spend lots of time avoiding sluffs that oozed from above it was so warm. As you can see from a few of the Apr 21 photos, some people were in the ravine bar chested (guys that is). The snow was very mushy.

Yes I would say that was about the most I have seen... especially on the trail. Compared to last weekend maybe... hmmm 8x more people? Since lunch rocks was only partly uncovered there weren't as many on the main rocks as I have seen in years past, but that is because everyone was spread out more, or were minglying around the Son of Inferno finish. Then again there was a crowd of people above the headwall skiing or watching the Son of Inferno race.

April 14th was VERY windy and yes bulletproof skiing till mid afternoon. April 21 was just plain perfect. Hot with light winds, sun through till mid afternoon. I'll post some sound bites with photos to 'recreate the day' like I did for May 20, 2000 (see http://timefortuckerman.com/relive20000520.html for sample).

Dave

http://timefortuckerman.com/gifs/moose3a.gif

SherpaKroto
04-24-2001, 03:49 PM
Dave - FANTASTIC Shots! This site is one of my faves.
Maybe I was wrong about the Son of Inferno, time will certainly tell.

4 days and counting... - SherpaKroto

M@
04-24-2001, 04:31 PM
Another big DAMN from me as well. Really wish I was there.

May 1, 1999 was a pretty good day for me:

Check out the weather report --> http://m.sheppard.net/tuckerman/1999/images/HTML/200%20Weather.jpg

Not a cloud in the sky and 70deg in the bowl, all day.

M@

[This message has been edited by msheppard (edited April 24, 2001).]

skicdave
04-25-2001, 01:49 PM
I've posted more photos including skiing up in left gulley as well as lots of sequences of brave young lads jumping off the rocks below the lip (see subsection 'Skiing The Bowl')...

http://timefortuckerman.com/photos2001-04-21.html?1

I have another 100 or so to post including some great wipeouts above me (I had to jump out of the way for these shots) and shots on the little headwall and down the Sherbourne.

Added RavineJam #7 and #8 for those interested in watch some of the jumpers that day...

http://timefortuckerman.com/apr21-2001/photojam7/

http://timefortuckerman.com/apr21-2001/photojam8/


Cheers!

Dave

http://timefortuckerman.com/gifs/moose3a.gif

hutley
04-25-2001, 11:32 PM
excellent pics of inferno day!!! As the weather gets warmer will you be taking some of the "Babes o' Tuckerman"? I hope so!

CK_Ski_N_Sail
04-27-2001, 02:56 PM
Wow, Dave, amazing weekend. As a Tuck's virgin, I have to ask: is it always that amazing??

Warm weather, sunny blue skies, soft snow, friendly people. Amazing! After slogging up the trail to HoJo's and then on the base of the ravine (which seemed very painful at the time but now I can't seem to remember much of it), we had a nip of Scope (Rumplemintz) for courage and headed up right gully. ("Hey, Tom, we're higher than the headwall!") Blasted down the gully to the bottom and had some celebratory Scope. Met an enthralling girl with Duppy the puppy (where are you Kaitlyn?). Unfortunately we had a late start, so it was a one-run day. Skied out Sherburn to step from our skis directly onto the pavement of the parking lot, not hiking a foot! Had some celebratory Calvados before hiking down to Wildcat and the car. We wrapped up our perfect weekend with a day of skiing in t-shirts at Okemo-- strange, this so called 'ski lift'.

So I have to wonder.... was it heaven, or was it Tuckermans!

Virgin No More and Returning Next Year,

Charlie K



[This message has been edited by CK_Ski_N_Sail (edited April 27, 2001).]

CK_Ski_N_Sail
04-27-2001, 03:10 PM
Whoops, my last message says I'm unregistered. Posted this to make my profile available.