Tuckermans Journey - Misery loves company...

[kfarrar]

but this time I had none.

To all those who couldn't make it - BE GLAD YOU STAYED HOME. What was I thinking. The ravine reported -5 at 8:00 Saturday morning. I can not imagine how cold it got overnight with temps well below freezing and a howling winds. I survived it!

This trip was a real grind. Tough skinning up until I hit the Winter Lion Head route where 3+ inches of powder showed up out of nowhere. After about an hour sleep I dragged myself out of my sleeping bag only to be instantly frozen. It must have taken me an hour to pack my gear.

I headed up to HoJo's to talk with the caretaker, Jeff, a very nice guy. I contemplated heading up into the ravine. The winds were still blowing but the sky was clear. The views were stellar. (no pics as father in law forgot to bring home digital camera). After making it nearly up to the ravine I turned around. The winds were so strong and without compnay I was running out of motivation to go further.

To my surprise on my way down I met up with NotJustAnotherBoarder. Our chat was brief. He was going up and I was beat so I went down. He metioned he had a camera so I'm hoping he tooks some shots. The views were amazing and the ravine is filling in nicely.

The ski down the Sherburn was the worst ever. After about a quarter mile and already numerous falls I fell and got pretty twisted up only to hear a snap. I immediately took check of my body and didn't feel any pain. That was good. Once I got my skis off I quickly realized that I snapped my binding. The pieces that locks AT bindings down broke right off. The goods news is they weren't rendered completely usless. The bad news, it meant I would be snowblowing nearly the entire distance of the sherburn. Needless to say the ski down rock har styrofoam sucked!

I am glad I made it home safe. I had enough food, water, dry clothes to be ok but this trip was a mental challenge I had not prepaired myself for.

[el-bagr]

Yikes! Glad to hear you made it out. (I suppose I'm glad I didn't join you after all!)

[Luddite]

Still, look at the story you now have for boring Christmas parties! Man I thought of you that night, as cold as it was. My own down bag would be wildly insufficient for such insanity, but I admit I'm intrigued! I wound up not skiing today, as we didn't get the expected 2' here in Manch Vegas and I'm sore from shovelling (wet snow with barely breakable crust). Hey a miserable trip is still a trip. As a ski bud used to say "There's another one they can't take away from us." Congrats for getting off the couch!

[kfarrar]

I am definatley glad I made it out and was never in any real danger, the weather was cold but it was clear and ther were alot of people in the shelters, although I ended up sleeping alone in an empty one. Had I not had extra clothing including, mittens face mask, socks fleace top and bottoms and hat I would have definately suffered.

Inspite of the difficult skinning conditions I actually made great time up to the ravine, 2 hours exactly. And like I said the view was worth the effort. It is hard to believe I passed up a dinner out with friends and a warm bed for such an adventure. But then again I guess that who I am. I was at a party on Saturday and a friend called me hardcore, I wouldn't have ever and still don't think of myself as hardcore. In a way, looking at it from anothers perspective, I guess what I chose to do was a bit hardcore.

[Skilasnow]

Nice on Kfar! M@ and I were thnking of you while we skied the two trails of Cannon all day on Friday. Glad you made it, sorry to hear about the gear, I know what its like! I have to hook up to give you those rock skis I have for you.

[M@]

Dood: You're totally hard core. Think how nice it'll be to head up in may and sleep under the stars and remember just how cold it can get up there.

2 years ago we had a cold trip - kinda crappy, just wanted to stay in the bag... but we got some runs in and it was fun.

Was there water available up there?

M@

[skidude]

Sounds cold. Glad you made it out in one piece.

[kmrnskier]

Kfar - glad you made it out safely. And, just remember, times like that makes you appreciate the small and simple pleasures we have in life (but you already know that). As for you being hardcore - YAAAAA!!! How many people do you know, besides this board, that would do something like that? Sorry to hear about the equipment though.

[Mumster]

:eek: Be careful kfarrar.

I guess every trip to :tucks: can't be bliss. :( Hope your equipment repairs are minor.

[notjustanotherboarder]

I have picutres. I'll post them on Wednesday. And it was cold!!!!. I'll give my details on Wednesday also

[NH_tele]

Too bad you had to pick that day to go up there. I'm sure that, avalanche conditions allowing, the skiing was much better come Monday.

On the other hand, you definitely had a valuable experience! I love those types of days, when it's just bitterly cold, or sopping wet, or really windy. They're great just to go out in. I've logged one day skiing in the rain so far this year already...

What kind of :sleepingbag: do you have? I have a down one rated to 15, but I'd imagine that if I put on hats & clothes & my down coat I could go colder than that in it... Did you just use a bag, or a down coat, etc?