Hit Tuckermans last weekend before officially calling the ski season quits.  This year we decided to go up on a Friday to avoid the crowds, and we were pleasantly surprised to see exactly two people up there when we arrived at the base of the ravine around 10am.  

Eamon post 2 hr hike to the ravine

After a quick snack of tangerines and a block of cheese, I hit the headwall.  There were two existing bootpacks from previous hikers - one up the right side of the headwall with very little exposure to rocks, and one up the Chute, which is on the left side of the headwall and splits two cliffs. My initial plan was to ski the left center of the headwall, so I decided on the Chute route.

 

Red line is the route up and the green is my intended path down.  Despite being the first one to hike the headwall that morning, the first half up was very mellow and the bootback was ok. Things started to get interesting when I approached the cliff on the left. The bootpack had been in the shadows of the cliff for the majority of the morning so the snow turned rock hard. It was then when I realized why no one else was hiking this early. The top half of the ravine turned out to be a sheet of ice, especially the left side which had less direct sun exposure. Unfortunately it was too steep to put on my skis or turn around - my only option was to continue up the ravine, honestly one of the scariest moments of my life.  One wrong step and I would have slid down the entire slope, and the rock exposure did not boost my confidence.  Hard to get a sense of the pitch from this pic.  This video gives you a better impression:

 

Not sure when this was taken, but it is directly below the cliff on the left.  Watch about :35 seconds into the video.

Anyways, after many careful and deliberate steps, some where my boots would penetrate the surface by only a couple inches, I made it to the top of the ravine.  Unfortunately my original plan to ski down the left-center of the headwall was out of the picture at this point so I carefully worked my way over to the right side.  Ten big turns on much softer, sun soaked snow later I returned to Eamon sunning himself on the lunch rocks.

Next stop: Maine for the Sugarloaf Reggae Fest.  We passed these guys on the way.  Curious little buggers.

Got in a great day of Spring skiing Saturday and had the chance to bust out the retro Peak 103.7 outfit. Amazingly almost every trail at Sugarloaf was open and the park was pretty baller.

One of the highlights of the weekend was Mighty Mystic's rendition of Night Nurse.  I captured a part of it but the quality is poor (turn the volume way down).

A solid way to wrap up an epic season.  Now it's officially time to put away the boards and take out the sticks. See you on the course.

Eiger speed climb

I'm in the process of putting together a recap of my recent Tucks trip - waiting on pics from my buddy.  I thought it was badass climbing the 50 degree headwall, which was completely iced over, without crampons or axe. Then I watched this video and it put things into perspective.

Monday morning jam

Someone get me this outfit/teach me these dance moves! Unbelievable how the crowd sits still during this song.

This just happened

All non phish phanners, please disregard.

Dance lesson

For those who are legitimately interested in learning how to Dougie:

Epic YouTube comment:

"As soon as I saw this video I did two things: (1) I called my lawyer (2) and told him I wanted to get a divorce."

The Masters

A tradition unlike any other. It marks the time of year when I put away the boards and take out the sticks.  Spring is in the air and Talkhouse and Drift are only months away.

My picks this year are all young guns:

Nick Watney - his game is hot this year with 1 win and 5 top tens out of the 6 tournaments he's played in

Hunter Mahan - impressive start to the season with 5 top tens and a 2nd place finish at AT&T Pebble Beach

Anthony Kim - one of my favorite players solely because of his reputation as a ridiculous party animal.  This was actually my bro's pick - he insists he's playing better this year despite only one top ten finish

Dustin Johnson - a class act ever since he was, in my opinion, completely screwed over at the PGA last year when he grounded his club in a hazard on the 18th hole.  If it was actually a hazard, get the damn spectators out of it. When's the last time you've seen patrons standing in a bunker at Augusta? What was most impressive was his on air reaction to the ruling - pure class. And he's dating Natalie Gulbis. Hate to say this but...WINNING.

The Hangover 2 trailer

Are you kidding me with this?  What a joke. I'm pretty sure they used the exact same script as the first one and just replaced "Vegas" with "Thailand."  This sequel had such potential but these clowns were too scared to deviate from their little plot line.

I have an idea for Hangover 3.  How about the cast goes to Disney World with their kids, they get really drunk, lose one of their kids, then have to retrace their steps the next day by looking at receipts and shit.

Hangover 4 - the gang goes to Dublin, drinks one too many Guinness, the guy from the Office does something stupid to alter his image in a permanent way, someone gets lost - doesn't matter who - and everyone has to work together mid hangover to find their buddy.


Classic mix up!


PS I'm almost certain this is an April Fools joke. Trailer just hit today. There's no way these idiots are this dumb.