Posted by on May 6, 2011 in Mountaineering, Outdoor Fun | 0 comments

Spring Skiing in Tuckerman Ravine

Tuckerman Ravine, Mt. Washington, NH
6,288 Feet
9 miles
May 1, 2011
Tuckerman Ravine in a Change of Seasons
I always mourn the passing of the winter in the North Country, as it means the end of the ski season. I’ve spent a lot of time on and around Mt. Washington this winter and spring, but this was my first trip to Tuckerman, to see the last of the skiing. We went up on the 1st of May, which is always a harbinger of coming revolution for Old Commies, and a revolutionary change in seasonal outdoor activities, with skiing going out, and the strange and wonderful rites of spring in full bloom. In the words of my old and poetic friend Charley Adams, “Hooray, hooray the 1st of May, outdoor —-ing begins today!” Goodbye to skiing, and hello to whatever comes next.
Tuckerman Ravine on May 1st, 2011
Tuckerman Ravine, the birthplace of Extreme Skiing
Tuckerman Ravine is a large glacial cirque, carved into the ESE side of Mt. Washington, which receives over 55 feet of snow annually, due to the windblown snow from the summit. It affords a number of different runs across its semi-circular face, all of which are between 45 and 60 degrees. One John Apperson was the first person to ski Tuckerman, but the venue really became popular in the 1930’s with the arrival of Dick Durrance, Brooks Dodge, and the famous Toni Matt. Toni Matt, an Austrian, was the first to straight-line descend the bowl, winning the first “Inferno Race” and earning a place in the Pantheon of American Skiing Greats.
Tuckerman Ravine skiing is not for the faint of heart, as it has claimed 10 fatalities in the last few years due to avalanches, ice falls, falls into crevasses, falls into the waterfall, falls off the cliffs and other unclassified falls. It is a popular but dangerous place to fall.
Looking for a soft place to fall
The Team and Route
Our team, as so many times before, was the practiced squad of Gary & Jill Rogers, Pete Volanakis and me. With the advice of Ken Gordon, Dartmouth ’60 and an AMC volunteer, we decided to head up Hillman’s Highway, a very long and enjoyable couloir. Hillman’s is a run I last skied 41 years before, and was looking forward to a return trip.
Little snow at the base on a beautiful day
The climb is always punctuated by a stop at HoJo’s, the Ranger’s Cabin at Hermit Lake, about 3 miles into the hike. The crowd at HoJo’s normally raucous; slightly intoxicated on the way up, and very intoxicated on the way down.
Gary and Jill having lunch at HoJo’s
Headed up Hillman’s Highway
We had a great climb up into a blue bird sky. The snow was soft, and the skiing delightful. We all headed home, ready to say goodbye to winter, and fully embrace the outdoor activities that come with the change of seasons.
Mt. Washington from the top of Hillman’s Highway
Jill Rogers Climbing to the Top
The Author and Gary Rogers headed down the hill
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Posted by on May 3, 2011 in Highpointing, Hiking, Outdoor Fun | 0 comments

Mt. Rogers & Black Mt. – A Highpointing Blog

Mt. Rogers, VA
5,729 feet, 9 miles
Black Mountain, KY
4,145 feet
From the Sublime to the Ridiculous
Wes Chapman
April 23, 2011
Mt. Rogers, an Assault into Eden
The wooded summit of Mt. Rogers from the AT
Looking at a map, we decided that Mt. Rogers was an easy enough hike that Martha could make it, despite an arthritic knee. The approach from Grayson State Park involves an elevation gain of only 1,100 feet over 4.5 miles (mostly on the Appalachian Trail), and appeared to be fairly smooth walking. We arrived to high overcast, 50 degree temperatures and 25-35 knot winds – fair enough but three cuts short of ideal. Little did we know.
Martha prepares for the hike
 Mt. Rogers is a great big rhyolite (very hard, high silica, volcanic rock) dike, which forms the backbone of the 6 mile long summit ridge. This rhyolite is purple-grey in color, over 750 million years old, and includes the only visible evidence of Proterozoic glaciation in the South – and it’s right on the AT! We were walking along, and I saw the typical sub-glacial stream erosion right on the summit ridge. I guess that the mountain was quite a bit taller at that point.
The mountain is named after William Barton Rogers, a graduate of William & Mary, the first state geologist of VA, and the founder of MIT.
Mt. Rogers Rhyolite
The entire summit ridge was largely field and grazing area for a resident herd of wild ponies. There were numerous apple trees near the summit ridge, indicating agriculture in the area in the 19th Century.
Apple trees and fields on Mt. Rogers
As the day wore on, the weather, scenery and walking gradually improved. Near the top we ran into two herds of wild ponies, indigenous to the area. The origins of the ponies are lost in time, but the only logical explanation is that they were ponies from the nearby coal mines that escaped/released from pasture, and have been here ever since. In any event, the Park Service provides some oversight of the herd today, but they remain, more or less wild. We came upon a herd with a new foal, which was very cool.
Wild ponies on Mt. Rogers
A brand new foal
The actual summit of Rogers is wooded, and affords no views. The weather was really great by this point; we were hiking in shirt sleeves, and didn’t really care. A quick lunch and we were off to enjoy the views along the ridge, which had improved with the passage of the day. It was down then out to our base camp at the Martha Washington Inn to prepare for our mechanized assault on Black Mt. the following day.
Martha at the summit
Near the top of Mt. Rogers
Daniel Boone at the Martha Washington 
Base Camp
Black Mt. KY
Black Mountain KY is just over the State Line from VA, accessed from route 160, a vertiginous drive. This is big coal country, where the mines have a special ambulance entrance and the tops of mountains are removed to get at the carbon. Black Mt. is owned by a major coal company, which requires a release to get on the property. The day we made the trip was cold dark and foggy. This was Appalachia as you imagine it.
Black Mt. as advertised
Martha showing Black Mt. as we saw it
The summit is covered with various towers and transmission equipment. It includes a plaque to one William Risden, who was a local pioneer of cable TV, and was among the first to recognize the value of Black Mt. for radio transmission. If he could only see it now.
The Author resting on the William Risden plaque
This is coal country, and you see and feel it everywhere. The mountain topping operations were in full view and operation across the valley, but did not photograph well on a dark and foggy day. I did get a couple of shots of coal seams in the sedimentary rocks in the road cut.
A thin seam of King Coal off Rt. 160
We did not tarry long at the summit, and headed south at full throttle to Nashville, and the end of the Great Southern Highpoints Tour of 2011.
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