It’s that time of the year again. Time for some backcountry skiing. The front-country reluctantly throws in the towel on skiing while skiers and riders alike head for the hills. In this case, our friends from Canada came down here hoping for a guided experience in the famed Tuckerman Ravine — central to the Northeast backcountry experience. We were happy to fulfill their adventure request. Leading and teaching them on this tour was Redline Guide Will Murphy. We added “teaching” because even though this wasn’t a backcountry ski intro class, Will did cover some of the basics before heading up Right Gully. For instance: self arrest. And it’s good that he did relay this important how-to information because one of our guests caught an edge skiing down and fell into what could have been a long, sliding variety. It wasn’t a long- sliding fall because Will took the time to cover this critical information so when he yelled “ARREST, ARREST!” the guest who fell knew what to do and was able to self-rescue. This is fantastic and the best news possible! Well done teacher and student!
Report: We were able to skin the entire way up Tuckerman Ravine Trail ascending to the Ravine itself. To ski/ride we selected Right Gully and topped out, then enjoyed a good descent to the floor [of the Ravine]. On exit, we were able to ski most of ‘Sherbie’ with some walking added in. —Will
