Running Raymond Brook after Wednesday's big storm

yo all, i am seeking ski mates to run raymond brook trail after todays big storm. should/could do this tomorrow or friday? i am currently in philadelphia. can be up in north creek as early as 10 tomorrow. needless to say should not go backcountry alone and it's best to carpool to run raymond brook. though i have hitch hiked back up barton mine road. actually got ride from forrester who reminded us the whole drive back to car that we should have been more prepared. so not to be reprimanded once again i am trying to be proactive. thanks for thinking of pulling together. my cell is 215 681 4229 email bob@bob-ingram.com cheers, bob

Thank you so much for posting this. I would enthusiastically join you if not for work and family activities. Perhaps another time. To that end, I have two questions:

1. What kind of gear is best for this trail -- XCD cross-country oriented gear, like Madshus Epochs and pins, say, or full-on mountain tele gear like O1 bindings and Scarpa T2X boots? (I guess I'm sharing my main gear).

2. Is it a one-way downhill trail a la the Sherburne at Mount Washington, or may it be skinned or scaled up? I prefer to skin what I'm going to ski to see it first, but I'll go along with most anything, including a car shuttle.

Thanks, and have a great time.

David wrote

1. What kind of gear is best for this trail -- XCD cross-country oriented gear, like Madshus Epochs and pins, say, or full-on mountain tele gear like O1 bindings and Scarpa T2X boots? (I guess I'm sharing my main gear).

2. Is it a one-way downhill trail a la the Sherburne at Mount Washington, or may it be skinned or scaled up? I prefer to skin what I'm going to ski to see it first, but I'll go along with most anything, including a car shuttle.

1. XCD FTW
2. The trail isn't one way, but downhill is definitely the preferred route.

wish I could join ya, it's on the hit list and I'm just a bit north of you in the Lehigh valley for a carpool... but this damn work thing keeps getting in way  

mc - how does it compare to merck? I have to admit I struggled (quite) a bit coming down in both the heavy snow and fast tracks last weekend. i was trying to follow someone's line on antone rd  ski'd earlier (most likely in the fresh pow) but couldn't hold it. any confidence I was building skiing the xcd setup was pretty much destroyed - along with my pride and upper left thigh  I would be nice to ski them in some good snow again!

About equal to Merck. Everything is so condition dependent, though. Merck was real crusty and fast when we went, and didn't get real good until the bottom half. Thursday, Friday or Saturday will be awesome in Raymond Brook. None of those hard snow issues. Sunday is a different story.

Also, I know a guy* that teaches Tele lessons and is available to help anyone with technique issues on XCD setups.

*"a guy"=me

David wrote

What kind of gear is best for this trail...

i will be running the madshus epoks with cable 3pin bindings and the alpina alaskan boot. i also prefer the car shuttle gig. i have even hitch a ride back up to car and if you can believe it a ranger was the one to give us a ride back up.

I would say Tele or AT with fish scales, too much on & off for skins. I know people who have done it with alpine & snow shoes though. It's a beautiful trek but I would save it for when you have tracked out all the higher angle terrain. Raymond Brook skis pretty flat.

Friends and I do it on wax all the time, Pete Gay a little tough but too short to put skins on. IMO deff not an AT trip, too much kick and glide. I do hope I'm not first tracks in 18 to 20 been there!

mattchuck2 wrote

Also, I know a guy* that teaches Tele lessons and is available to help anyone with technique issues on XCD setups.

*"a guy"=me

I'd take you up on that if I were closer. Been trying to hit the local Sunday night tele outing/clinics but something seems to come up

bob wrote

yo all, i am seeking ski mates to run raymond brook trail after todays big storm.

Bob curious to know if you made this ski. I know Raymond Brook had traffic in the last few days!

hi harvey, we ran raymond brook on friday morning. i poached a few guys/guests from garnet hill lodge and one of the owners of inn joined us as well. raymond brook was run on thursday by another guest and or homeowner up at garnet hill with two forest rangers, the rangers appeared to have run it twice that day. after all that i know of a good 8 folks who ran it on saturday morning. friday afternoon after we had lunch we broke in, set tracks, on the botheration trail. this run took 3 hours and 45 minutes crazy how deep the snow was to lay down tracks. needless to say i have done both of these trails over the last few years. my new trail run was the ski jaunt you describe in a post this past summer or the summer prior. we skied the hour pond trail. we went clockwise started at the trailhead on old farm road looped all the way around dropping down to 13th lake where we skied directly across lake bush wacked up hill making it out of the woods 100 feet to the west of parking lot. so as you can see all in all it was a fairly epic two days of backcountry skiing in the siamese pond and adjacent areas. thanks for asking. cheers, bob

bob wrote

 one of the owners of inn joined us as well.

Mindy?  I know she has wanted to do this ski, but was looking for partners. Very cool.

Sounds like some great skiing. I love the new trail that comes down the Hour Pond beaver swamp right to the lake.

Good stuff bob!

mindy, that is right. i found the hour pond trail very very very gorgeous. much of the upper part of the trail seemed as if it followed an old homesteading road not just a logging road. also very cool that it was a round trip not out and back. the heavy snow made the climb up very doable as well as the descent back down to 13th lake slow enough to not be teetering on dangerous. this trail as well as the raymond brook trail should only be done by extremely skilled tele backcountry skiers when it's the least bit icy. once again we all need to tip our hats to steve ovitt and his fellow foresters for their tireless efforts in reopening these classic trails and marking them so well with excellent signs, trail markers and mapping.

RBT is on my radar for the weekend, most likely Sunday. any conditions updates, info , or folks to tag along with or join me? I thought I saw somewhere there was a (town?) shuttle but can't find anything

gorgonzola wrote

RBT is on my radar for the weekend, most likely Sunday. any conditions updates, info , or folks to tag along with or join me? I thought I saw somewhere there was a (town?) shuttle but can't find anything

I was there a few days ago, good shape but there was one open water crossing and one snow bridge that looked iffy. There is a shuttle that runs twice a day.

Shuttle should run 10:30 from Ski Bowl , Health Center side. Updates Upper Hudson Trails Alliance  on Facebook.
I'll ski with you.PM me.

Cool, thanks!!will be in touch

BRLKED wrote

Shuttle should run 10:30 from Ski Bowl , Health Center side. Updates Upper Hudson Trails Alliance  on Facebook.
I'll ski with you.PM me.

thanks for the tour! a great time for sure and look forward to skiing it again some time