Tuckerman Ravine is a glacial cirque sloping eastward on the southeast face of Mt. Washington, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Although it draws hikers throughout the year, and skiers throughout the winter, it is best known for the many "spring skiers" who ascend it on foot and ski down the steep slope from early April into July. In this period, the temperatures are relatively mild but the natural snowpack — which averages up to 55 feet (17 m) in a typical winter — is still adequate to ski most seasons. The record-setting high winds atop Mount Washington scour a massive amount of snow from the surrounding highlands and drop it here or in the adjacent Huntington Ravine.
Tuckerman Ravine with late spring skiers after the headwall has thawed
View of Tuckerman Ravine from above Left Gully
Tuckerman Ravine viewed from Hermit Pond. Note the evidence of a recent avalanche on the headwall's center left.
A cirque is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie and cwm. A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform arising from fluvial erosion.
Two cirques with semi-permanent snowpatches near Abisko National Park, Sweden
Upper Thornton Lake Cirque in North Cascades National Park, U.S.
Maritsa cirque in Rila Mountain, Bulgaria
The Lower Curtis Glacier in North Cascades National Park is a well-developed cirque glacier; if the glacier continues to retreat and melt away, a lake may form in the basin