Quick report
Snowpack • No shooting cracks, whumpfing, or slab propagation. • Performed several ski cuts without incident. •Wind loading into Chicken Rock Gully and Center Headwall. • Visible crown line beneath Icefall. Coverage: • Right Gully (2 Laps): A great start to the season. The top out is "sporty," but rewarding. A climber set the boot pack far climber’s right. This time of year, there is sun on Right Gully from around 11am to 3pm. December 9th is the earliest sunset of the year in Northern NH. • Chicken Rock: Decent snow, but inferior to Right Gully. Considerable avalanche debris and accumulated slough on the bottom half. • Ravine Floor to Hermit Lake: We skied all the way from the bowl to the lot without removing skis. The TRT above Hermit Lake is fully covered, but tight as always. Don't ski this on weekends when there are crowds. Weather Cold as hell. The summit hit -20.6F with 119 mph winds early morning (wind chill < -70F), nearly breaking the record from 1989 (-21F) By our 11:00 AM start at Pinkham, winds moderated, but full face coverage and frequent buddy checks for frostbite were mandatory throughout the day. As I write this 3 hours after finishing the day, I still can’t feel the pads of my thumbs.