jculligan

Tagged my first big mountain objective today. Skinned from Pinkham Notch to the floor of Tuckerman Ravine, then booted up Left Gully...which is an east-facing couloir on the west side of the ravine. Things are rapidly filling in, and I was able to ski in/ski out without having to carry the skis once. Considering the lean start to the year, Left Gully skied exceptionally well with only a few scoured sections higher up as is typically the case. Interestingly enough...I have never waited so long to ski the Sherburne Trail before, but this is the earliest I have ever skied the ravine.

Fast-moving squall just put down a quick 0.3" here. Sunshine and blue skies once again now.

Incredible to have the privilege of enjoying these conditions during the middle of the week!! I have skied the Sherbie countless times before, but when I was a "weekend warrior" I almost never got to experience a true powder day given the popularity of that trail. I reached the top of the skin track around 8am this morning, and I think there were only three people that had gone down at that point...so there was plenty of untracked powder which simply would not have been there at the same time on a Saturday or Sunday. I'm loving the option to snag a quick lap on what previously required a 3+ hour commute from Massachusetts! Darkening skies here in Jackson now. I think the squall that just unloaded on Alex may have made the push over the Notch. About to find out...

Definitely need another synoptic event south of Crawford and Pinkham Notches. We managed a half inch imby this morning, but for the most part we still have the death crust leftover from last weekend with a little dust on top of it here in Jackson. The Doublehead ski trail behind my house is not very enjoyable at the moment, and this area just doesn't get the upslope. Amazing what a different world it is just 20 minutes north right now.

Well that was an unbelievable morning ski tour. Pulled into the Pinkham Parking lot to find 2.5" of fresh blower, and amounts quickly increased to at least 4-6" by the time I got up to 3900 feet. The Sherburne Trail skied like a dream with nary a rock or a water bar the entire way down. It's amazing how our base has improved over the last week. Winter is full on!

Looks like the SNOTEL at Hermit Lakes picked up 4" of snow overnight. Up to a 31" depth there now. Doing a lap on the Sherburne Trail before work this morning...should be quite nice!

Skinned a pre-dawn lap up Wildcat this morning and experienced some of the best alpenglow I've ever seen. Makes the dark start so, so worth it.

I'm kicking myself now, because for some reason the idea of Crescent Ridge didn't even pop into my head until this evening. I would have much rather skied 20" of powder in your neck of the woods than served as a human-powered ice breaker in my backyard! But with deep cold moving in and a few more nickel-and-dime type events this week, I would imagine Crescent Ridge will be skiing very well for the foreseeable future. Back on the weather side...I do like the potential for some squalls tomorrow night. It takes an extremely unstable setup for the squalls to push over the Notches into my neighborhood, but I have a feeling you'll be good for a couple/few inches of fluff by Wednesday morning.

I do feel like this is my obligation lol. One of the trade offs of being able to set a skin track from your front door

I feel the same way. Granite Backcountry Alliance has done a ton of work over the last few years to thin out specific glade zones, and I've been looking forward to exploring them this season. One of the zones is up on Crescent Ridge, which is very close to where Phin is located. Given the fact that Phin pulled nearly 20" out of this event, I think that might be my target zone next weekend. There is something to be said for the more open hardwoods in Vermont. NH has more extreme terrain with the various gullies and couloirs that are scattered throughout our alpine terrain in the Presidentials; so we have the steeps, but I think Vermont has far better tree skiing.

Finally got to do a backyard ski tour both yesterday and today. I think "character building" is the best way to describe it here on the eastern slope. We managed 8" of snow here at 1500' on Saturday and probably more like 10-12" at the top of North Doublehead (3,000') behind my house...but the freezing line soared all the way to the summits at the end of the day, with the event ending as rain. We did not get any of the upslope on the backside of the storm, so when temps tickled back below freezing we ended up with a horrendous crust that wasn't enough to support your weight (the dreaded "breakable crust" to put it into ski terms). The only way to safely descend without tweaking your knee or tearing your ACL was to alternate between jump turns, downhill kick turns, side stepping or the good old fashioned pizza. Really quite horrendous for backcountry skiing. The crust was still there today, but it has firmed up and is a little more supportive...so I feel like today's tour allowed me to ski a little bit more normally. You guys on the west side are so damn lucky to have the benefit of upslope. The woods out this way are not in good shape (even if they look pretty). But hey, it's going to be one hell of a base that we can now (hopefully) build on.

I don't think our snow depth really took a hit because it was relatively brief, but it definitely dripped off the trees. But I feel good heading into the upcoming colder spell with a foot of snow on the ground. It's real winter now.

Things did get a little dicey here at the tail end of the event. I measured 8" at 3pm but it turned to sleet and even rain very shortly afterward, and we did creep up to 35F with mist/drizzle for a few hours. I skinned up to the summit of Wildcat after sunset this evening, and it was sheet drizzle straight to the summit at 4k. Hopefully we can get some scraps from the wraparound overnight to make it pretty again.

Seriously thinking about it tomorrow. Doublehead is literally right behind my house, and we have a 12" base in my backyard now (presumably more up top which is at 3k). I've got a pair of rock skis so I may take them out tomorrow and just see what I find. Its mid January and I'm anxious lol.

8" down as the precipitation starts to let up. Some pingers mixed in to add a little extra beefiness to the pack. Solid 12" on the ground now. Still holding at 32F. I know the valleys got skunked, but things finally seem right here at 1500 feet!

Getting hard to tell because of drifting, but I just got multiple 7" measurements in the yard. I think we picked up at least 2.5" between noon and 1:00. Still 32F with heavy snow and it appears the back edge may be filling in a bit.

Another 1.3" last hour for a total of 4.3" as of noon. Still holding at 32/31. Hoping we can keep this going for a couple more hours. Nearly every event has landed at almost exactly 6" here so far, and it appears this event won't be much different. I'll take it!

2.2" last hour for a total of 3.0" on the nose here at 1500' in Jackson. At 9am it was a mix of rain and snow and 36F in Jackson village, about 700' below me. But we are getting crushed here.

2.2" last hour. 3.0" total. Dumping.

Insanely low visibility at the moment - probably the lowest I've seen in years. I took my first measurement at 9:50 and I'll be taking them on the hour. Still hovering at 32/31. Fingers crossed that diabatic cooling and heavy precip rates can fight off the low level warming that is trying to push in at the same time.

I am literally on the line right now. Just drove up from the valley where it was 36 with alternating rain/snow and no accumulation. Here at 1500' it is 32/31 and I have about 1" down so far. Started in earnest around 9am.

32/30 with 0.3" overnight. I'm going to be on the razor's edge with this one...

RGEM painting my area in the jackpot. The upslope/downslope effects during this storm could be quite extreme. Super tough call here at 1500' but I know I'll be cranking out some pretty ridiculous precip rates from about 9am-3pm and a good amount of that should be snow. This is a classic setup for my area to be near the QPF maximum.

I think you're a strong candidate to jackpot from this one. With the slight tick to a colder solution, I'm feeling more confident that I will do very well during the initial thump (probably a hair better than you) but you'll make up for it with the upslope that follows while I enjoy stray flakes under a partly sunny sky.

I'm 50-60' lower than both of you - pretty much exactly 1500' in my location. I think we're going to pound precip rates when the LLJ slams into the eastern slope, but it's going to be a nail-biter with the rain/snow line here. Another 500' would make me feel more comfortable. I could literally see 3" of slush followed by pouring rain, or a double digit blue bomb. Definitely nervous but the trends have been positive today.