Back to the Gulf 4/6/07

HOT

Doogie, Chicks Rip Too, The Buffalo Killer and I went back to Mt. Washington and the Gulf of Slides trail on Friday. We watched the weather all week, hoping that we would be able to make an attempt on the slides themselves but all the freshies that made for the great skiing we got, also created high avy danger.
Is that a Buffalo over there?

We were ok with this and knew what we were getting into before we left Boston, CCC trail skiing! This was my third trip up to Mt. Washington and while we had started early the parking lot was getting full by the time we had arrived. Spring time at Mt. Washington is suppose to be a mess and even though you have to be an idiot to have attempted Tuck’s on this day I imagine that a good deal of the people there were about to tempt fate that day.
CCC

We laughed about the scores of people marching to their deaths, calmed Killer down and made him follow us up the trail. On the way up this beautiful trail that had just received a sugar coating of about 3-4” we came across two sets of father son pairs. The first set we saw was at the top of the first steep shot, that would eventually cause Doogie and Chicks Rip Too (to a greater extent) more trouble than it had the father and son, who were taking a rest and catching their breath from the workout. This set, consisted of a 20 something son, who was acting as the sherpa to his old father (I’d guess 100 but I would be wrong?). Sherpa had his Pop’s alpine skis and boots strapped to his pack and if that is not enough to impress you he also was skinning up on Salomon 1080’s with a converter binding and alpine boots (non skier note - all this means is that he was carrying a LOT of weight). As we left the friendly set behind we wished them luck but never believed we would see them at the top.
earning it

yes, that is as far as we got

Further up the trail we caught the second set that consisted of a much younger looking father and an older looking son (teen pregnancy I assume) who were game for keeping up with us as we went by. They were, of course, nice people, (let me reiterate, backcountry skiers are never bad people) who were set on attempting to ski the slides themselves. As I’ve mentioned, we thought they were nice people and didn’t want to see them skin into an avalanche, so we tried to dissuade them, to no avail. We had lunch at the top of the trail, not far from set 2 and headed back down the trail, after saying our final farewells to the doomed pair (I don’t think the Gulf of Slides slid [avalanched] so don’t worry I’m just being dramatic).
lunch

We decided to keep our skins on for the flat/up and down top section which lasted about a quarter of mile. As we were pulling our skins off, set 1, Sherpa and Pop showed up! I couldn’t believe it but there they were, Sherpa leading the way and Pop not far behind. Once again we talked for a few minutes, Sherpa asking about our gear and all of us replying that, yes, absolutely; he should purchase some of it.

After they left and we had set ourselves up for ski mode, boots and everything, we took off and enjoyed about 2 miles of fresh snow! I’ve described this trail before and the only difference this time was that the new snow had covered up all the small tree tops that I had hoped over the time before. This time it was just good snow!
CRT shralping

Well thank you for waiting, I will now tell you the tale of how Chicks Rip Too, ate shit! (Sorry Mom, she said I should write about it) I have become relatively familiar with the Gulf of Slides trail and I stopped the group at the top of the last steep pitch, which happened to be the same as the first pitch (weird I know) where we met Sherpa and Pop, and I suggested that we try to carry some speed from this steep to get us through the flat section that leads to the parking lot. Doogie went first and while we couldn’t see from where we were standing Chicks Rip Too and I figured we had given him enough time to clear out and CRT took off down the trail. While I hate to say goodbye I love to watch her go, but I only saw her go around he corner. It turns out that she reached the bottom of the bottom steep pitch carrying the speed I had advised, but didn’t notice the dip in the trail that sent her face first into her ski. I waited a bit to give her room but as I started down, I noticed that something wasn’t right. I didn’t see CRT but I saw her pack and dog down near the stream. My first selfish thought was, I told them to carry speed and now I have to stop and hike out of here! My attitude quickly changed as I noticed the little bunny rabbits had taken their retribution on CRT and her blood was all over the snow. Doogie commented that. “The snow makes blood look a hundred times worse.” While I trust him, CRT didn’t help me believe him when she said, “how do I know if I’m ok?” This first sign she was not ok, was that she was asking me, I had no idea! While Chicks Rip Too did leave Mt. Washington a sacrifice of blood and teeth fragments, she was able to ski out and I bet she’ll show up in my next post!

Doogie Shralping

Doogie fell too (this is why no one is allowed to take pics of me!)