Skiing Raymond's Cataract

Several years ago I purchased a photograph poster called The Ski Routes of Tuckerman's Ravine. In the bottom right corner is a great view of Raymond's Cataract, it appears near verticle and points straight up to the summit of Mount Washington. I've always been fascinated by this ravine. Yesterday I was told by a Pinkham Notch employee that people do ski it. Anyone out there ever ski it, any written reports on it?

time for tuckerman

A search on Raymonds Cataract at http://timefortuckerman.com/ will turn up some info. I didn't see a TR though.

Any slope that looks like it could be skied, has been skied. Many slopes that look like they can't be skied, have also been skied.

David Metsky said:

Many slopes that look like they can't be skied, have also been skied.

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Sometimes with fatal consequences, as the 2004 accident on Pipeline Gully on Clay.

Good info here:

http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?p=192630

This is what my source tells me (a frequent and long-time poster on T4T):

"Most people ski it in big snow years. There is an icefall that needs to be covered to ski it top to bottom. There's no reason you can't ski the top, but you can't ski out unless there is enough snow."

I also know some folks who tried to get over there on a lark on a Spring afternoon while skiing the Eastern snowfields. Sounds like it was a real shlog to get to the thing--LOTS of kruholtz. (sp?)

Seeker said:

I also know some folks who tried to get over there on a lark on a Spring afternoon while skiing the Eastern snowfields. Sounds like it was a real shlog to get to the thing--LOTS of kruholtz. (sp?)

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It was from a long time ago, but I recall a good bit of very dense spruce--so dense that you had to walk on branches and could not reach the ground. If that area fills in with snow it would likely become one big spruce-trap field. (A bit like a minefield, except you get swallowed down instead of blown up...)

Doug