Tuckerman Ravine

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Tuckerman Ravine viewed from the Boott Spur Trail

Tuckerman Ravine (called casually "Tucks") is a glacial cirque sloping down eastward on the southeast face of Mt. Washington, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Although it draws hikers, mostly outside wintery weather, and skiers in winter, it is best known for the many "spring skiers" - people who ascend it on foot and ski down, from early April until mid- or late May. In that period, temperatures are relatively mild but the natural snowpack - which averages up to 55 feet in a typical winter - is still good. The record-setting high winds atop Mount Washington constantly scour a massive amount of snow from the surroundings and drop it here or in the adjacent Huntington Ravine.

Literally thousands of people have been known to ski Tuckerman in a single spring weekend. Skiing or ice climbing is not limited to this time, but the avalanche danger requires special training to assess and navigate the ravine safely during the winter. There have been 10 avalanche fatalities recorded (including one expert rescuer during a 1982 search) from 34 avalanche incidents in the area in the past 60 years.

The ravine is most easily accessed from the AMC lodge on Route 16 at Pinkham Notch, via the moderate 2.4-mile lower section of the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. This trail is maintained in winter and spring as a "cat" trail, and parallels the Sherburne Trail used for ski and snow-board descents. It is a 1,850 ft elevation drop from the foot of Tuckerman to the lodge.

Aerial view of Tuckerman Ravine and Mt. Washington from southeast

The ravine is named after botanist Edward Tuckerman who studied alpine plants and lichens in the area in the 1830s and 1840s. According to the New England Ski Museum, the first recorded use of skis on Mount Washington was by a Dr. Wiskott of Breslau, Germany, who skied on the mountain in 1899, while the first skier in Tuckerman was John S. Apperson of Schenectady, New York, in April 1914.