Dodge's Drop

[eporter]

A buddy and I went up Dodges Drop on Sunday. By far the sketchiest thing I've climbed at Tucks. 50-55 degree chute with rocks at the bottom. Fall and slide and that's it. We bootkicked our way 2/3s up when all of a sudden, wet, sluffing snow comes pouring down. Wasn't too dangerous, but could've been. We were expecting blocks of ice next. But, nope, apparently a couple skiers dropped in after hiking up Hillman's. When we told the father that he should shout a warning on steep chutes, he replied "oh, I didn't know anyone was down there" His 12yr. old kid FLEW down this thing! When we got to the top, 2 more skiers were there and dropped right in. What happened to hiking up what you go down? There was some sketchy stuff we told them about that they didn't know about. Bottom line, we earned our turns, but all the good snow was taken by skiers taking the quick and easy route up. Is that right at tucks?

[M@]

Sending the snow down = RUDE, give him an earfull, this could directly hurt someone else.

Not hiking up what you ski down = Common, and as it really only endangers them, if you feel like being kind, let them know its dangerous. Otherwise, Darwin usually takes care of them.

Given a large number of people, you can guarentee someone will be doing something stupid. In the end, you gotta watch out for you and yours.

M@

[<Jerm>]

Hiking up Dodge's not the best way to access it for skiing. Aside from the added difficulty and exposure on the climb up, being in the gully on the ascent overly exposes you slides from above because you are at the center of a narrow terrain trap. It is much safer and easier to access it via the Hilmans boot ladder.

IMO the whole hike-what-you-ski rule doesnt apply when you are considering a route like Dodges. For one, you should be able to get an accurate idea of snow conditions from Hilmans. Also, Dodges is not the kind of route where you want to test the waters by climbing it because you'll just be exposing yourself to more/longer dangers from falling ice and snow in the center of the gully. If there are any questions regarding your ability to ski it when viewing it from Hojos, don't ski it. Same goes for Duchess, Empress, Cathedral, and pretty much everything in Huntington and Great Gulf.

[loafnut]

&lt;Jerm&gt;:
Same goes for Duchess, Empress, Cathedral, and pretty much everything in Huntington and Great Gulf. what is the empress?, is it known by other names? I know where the rest are but ive never heard of empress.
thx

[DMC]

If you look a Dutchess from Hojos - the Empress is the Diamond shaped patch to the right.

I was seriously psyched to ride the Dutchess on Thursday but after one run down a ROCK HARD Hillmans into the the treachorously brittle Lower Snow Fields, I soon realized that it would probably suck....
Hillmans was seriously solid... My cramponless snowboard boots had serious problems with the last part of the Hillmans Climb...

[loafnut]

ok, I found the empress on some pics of duchess/hillmans. Where is the skiable line below the diamond shaped patch of snow? It looks sick.

[DMC]

Most of the time people stop at the bottom and hike to the Dutchess.. I've never seen a skiable line out of there in April/May...

[loafnut]

hrm, interesting, ill have to try and find some midwinter pics and see if there is a line below it.

[<Jerm>]

I haven't done it, but I know there is a way to zig and zag your way through the shrubbery and rocks from Empress to the lower snowfield. It may involve a small bit of air at some point.

[targheehucker]

this pic shows a little better the line for duchess and empress. they are the two chutes to the right of the deep Y gully of hillmans. there isnt much snow in mid january but the exit for empress is possible with a small (15 ft :eek: ) cliff drop...

http://www.tuckerman.org/photos/tucks/1-18-2003-Hillman's.jpg