Booter Friday in Left Gully - 11/21/25

By Greg McMillan

It was a beautiful morning in Tuckerman Ravine, looking more like January than November above Hermit Lake. I bumped into my friend Carly in the parking lot and so we decided to hit the trail together, departing around 6am. We enjoyed decent skinning conditions and excellent views of the sun poking up over Wildcat on our ascent. 

After a quick pit stop at the cabin to gather some beta, we continued up toward the bowl, taking our skis off and putting them back on a few times as the snow firmed up. I linked up with Kyle and Jeremiah and we made our way towards Left Gully as Carly ripped skins and enjoyed her descent down the Sherb.

We encountered a mix of snow surfaces from chalky windboard to rime crust with unconsolidated graupel snow underneath. We assessed conditions as we climbed and did not encounter any red flags as the snow seemed stubborn and stable.  Due to time constraints we turned around about 80% of the way up - so close yet so far! The line was filled in and could be skied from the top.

Chalky and supportive snow made for some nice turns on the way back down. We cut hard left at the apron as the lower snowfield is still brushy. The exit is clean though, which makes for a smooth entry and runout. The upper TRT was firm but had very few rocks poking through, which allowed us to hop turn and side slip on down. One of the two water bars just past Hermit is flowing, one is frozen over now.

The Sherburne Trail was excellent on the top third with soft edge-able snow making for fun and fast turns. The bottom half was rather icy due to the solar effect from the past few days. Plenty of sharks cover the trail so be light on your skis as you make your way down. That being said, we are now able to ski to the car! Well, depending on how much you like your equipment. Another solid day on the hill.