Corn Chowda on the Wedding Menu - 4/4/26

Guest Blog 

We made a great decision to pick today to head up to the bowl to say our vows, sign the papers and say "I do" forever. We started on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail at 7:00am. We quickly shed layers as it was a very warm morning. Once we made it to the switch backs we hit roughly 10 water crossing due to runoff. Some easily traversed others took a bit of finagling. After the last of the initial switch back the Tuckerman Ravine Trail glacier was back in action and we swiftly moved to the Hermit Lake Shelter. We sat for a quick snack and then headed into Tuckerman Ravine. From Hermit Lake it is a rocky boot pack up into the floor of the ravine.

The clouds were still heavy when we reached the floor and we decided to wait and hope for the wind to push them out. We had some luck and it turned into a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. From the floor we saw large cracks forming under the icefall and and across the lip. After a bit of game planning we decided to boot up Chute to get a better viewpoint on the cracking. Making it to the top of Chute we found a nice spot that looked over the whole bowl. We shared our vows. After vows, we put our skis on and headed towards Center Gully. Elijah headed down first and per usual was great. Natalie headed next and wedding day nerves got to her. Halfway down she got her ski stuck in a crack, popped out of her bindings, then slid down 400 feet of the bowl. A standing ovation and the crowd cheered! 

After a moment of recovery we headed back down to Hermit Lake to ski the Sherb down. We cruised down to core shot corner and boot packed down that section. It's rocky!!!! We clicked back in and skied all the way to the last two pitches where we encountered a few mandatory walking zones, unless you hate your skis. Bottom line the snow was great, the weather was warm, and I'd say our marriage is off to a great start!