Backcountry skiing

[paolo]

Anybody here into backcountry skiing? I would like to do some trips up to the ADKs or the Whites this winter if possible.

[AtomicSkier]

JohnnyLaw has pretty good knowledge of the daks

 

[toast21602]

I was going to make an asshole comment about how the only legit skiing is at Blue Mountain on 170 RTMs but I won’t.

JLaw would be the expert here but combing through tgr and the backcountry skiing New England Facebook group could help.


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[Johnny Law]

22 hours ago, paolo said:

Anybody here into backcountry skiing? I would like to do some trips up to the ADKs or the Whites this winter if possible.

I've done most of the slides book in the Daks and a bunch of shit in NH. Generally the whites are better but there are more lines in the Daks that can be easily strung together for something interesting. The Daks are almost always an earlier play then whites were the weather is worse into April, even May.

If you've never gone before and are more of a safer player I'd say go tuxs for your first trip, you get the taste but there are always lots of people around to help and if you get there and want to spice it up drop over into GOS or go up and run into one of the other ravines. King is my absolute favorite and RMC has a a hut up top which is awesome but King is also a real nasty biatch if you don't mind your P's and Q's. The hike/skin in is rowdy NE touring, straight up straight down dragging pines, icy, rocky and the skiing is the best I've ever done EC BC but it's a steep lader boot that almost always has water running under the snow in the lower choke.

What kind of gear do you have ? Have you winter camped before ? Are you familiar with EC touring in terms of being ready for pretty much anything ?

I'd answer those questions and then based of that decide how much I'm prepared for and then pick a goal. Daks your out of the LOJ or the Garden Lot, lean-to's or Peggy O, it can be incredibly insanely icy like full on crampons, the weather particularly up high on Marcy/gothics/ Algonquin changes quick but not whites quick.  Daks has some good day trip options but unless you live up there my guess is you don't want to drive 10hrs to spend 3 in the woods. If you want to go to the daks I'd say Marcy/Pelky Basin/Angel is a good first trip as it's almost impossible to get lost but it gets as rowdy as you can handle, Trap Dike is a 50degree plus mixed route that is chock full of debris, NF Gothics is legendary and then you get the slides. There are 100's of slides throughout the high peaks, where the vegetation has been stripped from the Canadian Shield mtn rock, after Irene they now run considerably longer. If your into skiing the slides you'll need the green ADK trail book, the drew haus slide guide and somebody to tell you how to get to most of these or a bunch of time spent in the woods. They are longish, generally narrow ramps of snow, the snow is generally a mix of various different dog shits lol but sometimes is incredible.

The Daks are rough, the weather is gnarly EC shit like 40mph wind with 33 degree driving rain, approaches are generally flat with lots of water crossings and then straight up some stupid sketch balls drainage that eventually becomes the slide but they are considerably tamer then the whites. Make no mistake, it's the EC, the road may not be that far but the Whites get super nasty and are surprisingly technical. There are endless super steep lines, were talking 40's into the mid 50's way steeper then the daks and a hell of alot steeper then EC resorts. The terrain is generally gnarly balls with long exposed boot ladders with long sections of scrub pines and massive boulders on the approach. It ain't K2 by any means but respect the whites.

 

I always had amazing adventures with truly gnar skiing, we did alot of dumb shit and alot of amazing shit. If you need beta on where to go or how to find out about the weather/snow pack just ask.

 

 

[mbike-ski]

Sounds like fuckin fun!


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[paolo]

^^ Thanks Johnny Law. I havent done any exploring on the east coast yet, but I hope to soon. Ive done avy courses and first aid stuff, and Ive got a good amount of touring experience (including winter camping, although I dont have a very good sleeping bag right now).

Ive been looking at the Trap Dike. Skiing that would be pretty badass. http://www.famousinternetskiers.com/trip-reports/10-11/skiing-mt-coldens-trap-dike/