The Big Snowy

Saturday the 16th is "The Big Snowy". It's a trek in deep snow. Where? Don't know yet - I guess it depends on who's going to be around. If it's just me, I may take a crack at Bamforth or take the day off entirely because on Sunday I'm going to spend the entire day in the backcountry on skis behind Bolton Mountain. Regardless, I think snowshoes will be the gear-du-jour for a week or so. It's also looking like Saturday will be a clear, cold, low wind day - a great day to be at high elevation.

Any thoughts on the matter?

[Update 2/14/08 7am] Interesting comments from tuckermanravine.org on snowpack conditions:

"Now that we have covered the details of snow stability today, we should step back for a moment and look at the big picture. This season is giving us some dramatic avalanches and some of our paths are running way bigger than normal. During our last cycle on Sunday and Monday, Hillman's Highway ran bigger than I have ever seen it go in the ten years I have been paying attention to avalanches on Mt. Washington. This avalanche cleaned out a swath of mature forest in its runout with trees around 60 years old uprooted, snapped and tossed around like toothpicks. The Escape Hatch also cleaned out a bunch of trees and other avalanches in Huntington filled in the base of the Ravine to make it feel more like the floor of Tuckerman. These large avalanches are paving the way for the next big cycle to run even farther. Well developed start zones in many of our forecast areas means that avalanches will be more common as there are less anchors to keep the snow put. We also have a lot more avalanche terrain now. Snowfields all over Mt. Washington and the Presidentials are developing and avalanching. Chris observed fracture lines all along the eastern side of the Presidential Range yesterday. We observed activity around the Ravines in unusual areas including tree covered gullies and snowfields. File this information into your brain to use as you are traveling in the mountains this winter. Expect avalanche terrain in areas you don't usually see it and expect avalanches to exceed their normal track lengths during avalanche cycles."

[Update 2/14/08 12:08] It's Back To The Bad Boy! It'll be a hell of a snowy trek, but the descent should be really, really fast. Anyone planning on hitting back what that mother pitches should chime in in the comments. The PM and g-$$$ are out for logistical reasons. MD is in (as of this writing). tMail or anyone else: we're waiting ....

[Update 2/15/08 18:30] Uh oh, maybe back to the Green Mountains. Maddog's got a date Saturday night. And let's not forget the forecasted bitter cold: -20° to -10° on the bad boy, with 50-70mph winds.