Early Season Stoke!!! - 11/6/2025

By Spencer Ralston
Read the Avy Report Here.

Fueled by stoke and spurred by the cold, Adam, Brent, and I left the parking lot at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday. Adam was in trail runners; the rest of us were in ski boots. Only a dusting of snow sat at the trailhead, but reports of accumulation up high kept us moving. About halfway up, drifts started stacking to mid-shin. I threw skins on at the Raymond Path crossover, roughly three-quarters of the way up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. At Hojo’s, we linked up with caretaker Jimmy and continued toward the ravine. 

In the bowl, the wind ramped up, ripping snow across the terrain. Drifts built to waist-deep, making progress painfully slow. We traversed under the Headwall with eyes on Left Gully, then crossed the Chute slide path, where we remotely triggered an avalanche from the top. It released and ran the full length of the line, pushing snow nearly a hundred yards beyond the runout. One member of our group was carried a short distance, but was uninjured. We wasted no time retreating from the bowl into the shelter of the trees.

** The early season comes with a bunch of different hazards, you can read our in-depth report on this avalanche incident at the Mount Washington Avalanche Center. 

After regrouping at Hojo’s, we skied the Sherburne Ski Trail down to the parking lot. The upper section skied beautifully. Coverage wasn’t good enough to ski all the way down, however, so we hiked the final 2,500 feet out.

Read more: Mount Washington   Avy Observation Report.