Sledding Tuckerman's Ravine

With most of the Woodpilers stuck on Paradise Island, the responsibility for hair raising, crazy, insane and irresponsible adventures falls to me, Archie your friendly grasshopper. I was rummaging through the props warehouse and came across the famous red sled used by Chippy a few years ago. I dragged it out of storage and dusted it off only to realize all the snow had melted away. I thought “what would Chippy do?”

I gave it some thought and decided to lookup the snow conditions report for New England. The report stated that someplace called “Tuckerman’s Ravine” in New Hampshire had several feet of snow. That sounded perfect! I checked the Critter Book of World Records and found no critter had set any records for Tuckerman’s Ravine. There was a footnote explaining that in order to set a record you had to survive the activity, and so far no critter has lived to tell the tale. Excellent, an element of danger, I can check that off the list of prerequisites for a Chippy adventure.

I hopped a bus (pun intended) for someplace called Mount Washington. That’s a rather unusual name for a town. After a few hours the bus stopped and I got out. I looked around expecting to a find a ski resort, tavern, and quaint New England town. Instead, there was a sign saying Appalachian Mountain Club trail head. I spied a human starting up the trail with his skis and inquired as to where the village of Mountain Washington was. She laughed and point up the steep trail. I insisted on a bit more of an explanation. Apparently, Mount Washington is a very big mountain not a village. It is a several mile trek into Tuckerman’s Ravine high up on the mountain.

 The photo does do justice as to just how bug a mountain it is.

 

I checked the snow and it is icy – perfect for setting a speed record.

There are no ski lifts on Mount Washington, you have lug your sled up to Tuckerman’s Ravine.

 

Here I go!

I hit 60 mph in less than 10 seconds

At 80 mph the paint started peeling off the sled and flying away.

This should be fun, a natural ski jump!

Not the most graceful landing

 

It is hard to keep the sled under control when your up on one runner

 

Phew, back on two runners. It should be smooth sailing for the rest of the run.

I can see the end of the run a chance to make the record books

 

I think I spoke too soon, that must be a three hundred foot drop, I will never survive it …

 

[loud crashing sound]

 

Did I make it?

 

NEWS RELEASE

 Archie the Grasshopper becomes first critter to survive a trip down Tuckerman’s Ravine. His top speed was 120 mph, and he completed the run in 2 minutes 33 seconds beating the previous record held by a human.