Huntington Ravine > Great Gulf > Tuckerman Ravine - 11/25/25

By Spencer Ralston

With eyes on the future forecast, it was shaping up to be a last hurrah of good early-season conditions on Mount Washington. A few phone calls and text messages were sent out, and a few good buddies hatched a plan.

Tyler and BDB—aka Brigham—were set to meet at the parking lot at 8:30 a.m., with Brigham showing up a few minutes late. We saw a lot of folks in the lot and decided to avoid the crowds. We began walking uphill and headed into Huntington Ravine.

The Huntington Ravine Trail is in pretty horrible shape. It’s filled with water bars, exposed rocks, and tight corners. We finally got to the bootpack and began traversing over to Diagonal. We sat in the sun for a couple minutes and then started the climb up into the line. A short crux step brought us onto the snowfield connecting into the line. We started the slog up. We topped out and enjoyed good turns into the first small crux. We skied it in sections, or "pitched it out" as they say, and regrouped at the bottom of the line. The snow was great, and we enjoyed soft turns in Diagonal. Tyler and Brigham kept skis on to the fan, including a mandatory air. I cramponed up and booted down. Brigham skied out the Fan and most likely headed to bed. Tyler and I continued on.

We climbed into Pinnacle Gully (WI3, steep snow, 500 ft). We enjoyed solid sticks and good ice conditions up Pinnacle. We topped out and traversed up to the Cog. With beta that Great Gulf was in, we began to traverse over.

We stood at the top of Airplane for a few long minutes. We discussed snow conditions and recent weather, and dug a few hand shears. We both agreed it was good, and we dropped in. We pitched it out and took our turns thoughtfully down the line. We skied a long way down into the trees before we got choked out. We laughed at the bottom, enjoying the silence of the zone. We booted up halfway and took another mini lap, then began the long slog up to the summit.

Racing darkness a bit, since it was past 2 p.m., we skied a slightly grabby but fun Eastern Snowfields and traversed into Tuckerman Ravine. We dropped into Chute, slightly traversing into Chute North before crossing back into Chute to avoid some chopped-up snow from earlier skiers. The turns were still soft, but a slight ice lens was forming, making it a touch grabby. We hugged the Bowl and skied out.

The Sherb is in awful shape in the lower half. It’s slow going and full of dirt. Not worth it unless you’re skiing above the Sherb.