words and photos: Matt Stillman

I’ll admit it. I was a virgin.

I had never hiked, let along ridden Tuckerman Ravine. The idea was more than intimating to me. Wake up at an ungodly hour, drive to New Hampshire only to schlep my carcasses up to the headwall just to be at the foot of the beast. That being said, I am always game for a hike, love drinking whiskey in the woods and hell, I fucking love snowboarding. So yeah, this idea had my attention although my V-Card was in jeopardy.

The Rome founders, Josh Reid and Paul Maravetz, conceptualized this event, Always Worth the Hike, based on a shared love of hiking, the awe inspiring nature of Tucks and the desire to bring the East Coast snowboard community out for a spring rip. This being the first go of the event it was kept relatively hush-hush. The call was put out to shops, friends of the SDS and in house Rome employees. On Monday, May 4th we rallied in the Pinkham Notch parking lot and assessed the situation. The overnight food rations were divided up amongst the overnighters, packs were adjusted, layers shed and it began. The game was afoot!

In reality, the trail from the parking lot to HoJo’s Lodge is right around two miles of fairly laid back terrain. The group quickly split into those who had been earning turns all season and the more mellow, “Vibe Squad.” As a card-carrying member of the latter group, I settled in to enjoy the views and good times that abounded. No wrong way to eat a Reece’s out here, folks; rip up the trail, meander at your own pace and as long as you’re out there enjoying yourself ,you’re doing something right. I’ll gloss over the period of time spent cursing my pack weight and pants choice, etc., etc. We rallied at HoJo’s lodge to slug water and crush some snacks before the final push to the base of the headwall. From there we made base camp at the infamous Lunch Rocks and from about 10 AM on, we had a squad posted up at there between runs and just hanging out enjoying the scene.

As previously mentioned, I was still holding onto my Tuck’s V-Card. Maybe it was the early wake up call or the fact I hadn’t been on my board in a few weeks, but I looked around and was pretty intimated by the whole scene. The headwall’s average pitch hovers in the 40-50 degree realm so it’s nothing to take lightly. Some of the group had already been out for a rip by the time myself and the Vibe Squad were ready to make our final ascent. Side story: Max Lyons had made the trip down to shred with us but unfortunately forgotten his boots, despite that setback he hiked up and was hanging with the crew at Lunch Rocks. Right as a group was about to depart for their hike a pair of boots was offered up for Max to use. Before I could even think about how absurd the situation was, Max had his hooves in the boots and was kicking my ass up the bootpack. Kid’s got heart, damn it!

Lead by Mike G., our warranty boss, about seven of us, including the freshly booted Lyons, made our way up Right Gully. Understandably one of the more mellow pitches, we were looking for some slushy, laid back turns and we were not disappointed. After watching a few riders rip through some variations on the Chute and Center Gully, all off the main bowl face, we ready to do the damn thing. I won’t sugar coat it. It felt damn good laying an edge in the sun baked au-natural snow that covers this legendary zone. Instantly a shit-eating grin cropped up on my soon-to-be sun burnt face. We party boarded through the snowfields that lay above Right Gully and took turns having our way with the final pitch that led back to Lunch Rocks. Back at Lunch Rocks beers materialized out nowhere, notes were compared, hoots were hollered, horns thrown and fists bumped. A serious feeling of accomplishment washed over the group. That feeling was remarkably fleeting, however, as half the group realized how far they were from their cars and the overnighters realized how wet our boots were. Rome OG Mike Waldert quickly explained we had a little more riding to do before anyone was done. We followed him down what was my favorite part of the day: waterfall-death-slalom.org/hellyeah. As the title implies this last run was essentially down the streambed of a very active stream. Featuring semi-mandatory rock gaps, optional water obstacles, slush berms and just all around everything I love about boarding.

After saying our good byes to the day trippers, the overnight squad retired to the observation deck on Hojo’s Lodge to bask in the final rays of sunlight. We passed around whiskey and gorged on a pretty elaborate buffet of meats, cheese, crackers and some note worthy Scottish salmon. This felt to me like one of those slow motion moments in a movie where everyone is smiling, some classic rock is playing, maybe a dog is jumping in a lake or something awesome like that. Instead it was group of friends, some old and some new, united by the experience of the day and a love of snowboarding. Cue the credits…

Wait, wait, not so fast.

Suffice to say we drank more whiskey, made an involved camp dinner and some hilarious night antics took place. If you’re reading this Aaron, we get it, you’re just one of those guys.

With dry boots, the overnight boys made the push for two final runs on Tuesday morning. Highlights of the day included Getek and Evan Ricker slaying Dodge’s Drop completely unannounced and everyone just owning the final run on Hillman’s. Back at the lodge we broke camp, loaded up and prepared for the ride out down the Sherburne trail. With the sun at our backs we cruised down the final stretch of snow ’till it turned into a mixture of mud and grass. A quick half hour later and we were back where it all started in the parking lot. Snowpants and water bottles were traded for shorts and victory beers as a feeling of undeniable accomplishment swept through the group. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was my first, but certainly not my last, trip to Tuckerman Ravine. Hope to see you out there next spring….