Friends of Tuckerman Ravine volunteers work on Mount Washington trails

Approximately 20 volunteers participated in a Friends of Tuckerman Ravine trail work weekend Sept. 13 and 14 on Mount Washington, according to executive director Al Risch of Madison.Working under the direction of Brian Johnston of the U.S. Forest Service and Ted Sutton of Lincoln and Matt Serge of Concord, the volunteers cleared back brush on the Fire Trail leading to the Harvard Cabin en route to Huntington Ravine.Approximately 10 volunteers helped do more trail work in the rain Sunday.We had a good turnout, so much so that we are planning to hold another work weekend in October, said Risch.The trail day weekend follows a similar effort the past two years on the Sherburne Trail, the ski trail cut by the Civilian Conservation Corps leading from Tuckerman Ravine to Pinkham Notch. Tuckerman Ravine is a ski mecca, especially in spring, when thousands trek to the ski bowl to exercise one of the local rites of spring.In addition to board members, several college students joined in on the effort. All who volunteered will automatically become members of the organization, which is dedicated to preserving and protecting the year-round back-country uses of Tuckerman Ravine, the glacial cirque located on Mount Washington's eastern flank.The organization was founded in 2000 to assist the U.S. Forest Service, which was then facing budget cutbacks. Those cutbacks have continued, according to Dave Neely of the Androscoggin District, making the organization's purpose even more needed, he said at a subsequent annual board meeting held at the Appalachian Mountain Club's Joe Dodge Lodge after the work day.At that meeting, Risch outlined plans for a new race to be held in conjunction with Friends of Tuckerman Ravine's annual Inferno Pentathlon, a run-kayak-cycle-hike-ski/snowboard race open to individuals as well as five-person teams which culminates every April in Tuckerman Ravine.The new race will start an hour later than the ravine race, and is to be known as the Wildcat Wildfire. The goal of the event is to give adventure athletes a challenge, but to wean out those who are inexperienced with tackling the notorious steepness of Tuckerman Ravine.Each of the Wildcat Wildfire's five legs will be similar but less demanding than the Inferno, according to Al Risch and son Jake Risch.The Inferno begins with a 7 a.m. foot race at Story Land and then progresses over Glen Ledge before heading west on Route 302 to Attitash's Thorne Pond for the kayak portion down the Saco to West Side Road's Humphrey's Ledge. The Wildfire course will follow Route 302 to Attitash but will skip the uphill leg over Glen Ledge.Likewise, the bicycle portion from Humphrey's Ledge will not pass over Glen Ledge, staying on Route 302 and then Route 16 as cyclists head to Pinkham Notch. There, they will ride past the AMC's Pinkham Notch Visitor Center to the Wildcat Ski Area parking lot, after which the hike up the Polecat Trail will take place. The ski leg will then head down the Wildcat Trail, portions of which date back to 1933 when it was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.Risch said there will be two new rules governing the Inferno this year: All skiers must have skied in the ravine previously, and no chase cars will be allowed in the bike leg.Risch outlined to board members a new event that the member-supported, non-profit organization is undertaking this year. A Seacoast Get to Know Friends of Tuckerman event is being planned for November at a yet-to-be selected date. He urged all to visit the Web site, www.friendsoftuckerman.org, for updated information on that event as well as information on membership.Risch also announced that Friends of Tuckerman Ravine will award a Steve Eastman Memorial Volunteer Award at this year's Inferno awards banquet in April. The award honors the late Steve Eastman (1949-2008), longtime community volunteer and leader.Since its inception, Risch said, Friends of Tuckerman Ravine has assisted the U.S. Forest Service in many ways, including Improving parking on Route 16; drilling a new potable water supply near Hermit Lake; obtaining congressional funding for a pedestrian bridge at the base of the mountain; using federal funds to purchase new radios and a telephone link between Hermit Lake Shelter and Pinkham Notch to provide continued reliable avalanche forecasting and rescue communication; and, with a $5,000 gift from the Nelson Gildersleeve Memorial Fund, resupplying first aid caches in Tuckerman.For more information, call Risch at 496-8649 or 367-4417.