Tuckerman Ravine | Timeless New England
Harold Orne captured the thrill and the drama of skiing New Hampshire’s awesome Tuckerman Ravine. In April 4, 1937, some 2,800 hardy spectators and a small number of ski adventurers, many of them members of the Dartmouth Outing Club, trekked the roughly 2.5 miles from Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire, to the base of the immense […]
By Mel Allen|Feb 29 2016|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanHarold Orne captured the thrill and the drama of skiing New Hampshire’s awesome Tuckerman Ravine.
Photo Credit : Harold Orne/New England Ski Museum collection
In April 4, 1937, some 2,800 hardy spectators and a small number of ski adventurers, many of them members of the Dartmouth Outing Club, trekked the roughly 2.5 miles from Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire, to the base of the immense glacial bowl known as Tuckerman Ravine, seeming to fill the southeastern shoulder of 6,288-foot Mount Washington. Among the spectators was Harold Orne, a Massachusetts photographer who was making a bit of a name for himself in the nascent New England ski scene by lugging his Graflex Speed Graphic camera to mountains large and small, capturing the people who followed the snow years before ski lifts and ski resorts added comfort to the adventure.
On this day, ski history was being made, and Orne was there. A ski race named in honor of Franklin Edson, who had died a year earlier in a downhill race in Massachusetts, would for the first time feature carefully placed poles at strategic points to force skiers to control their speed: It was the first giant slalom race in America. “Tucks” had already been the scene of a daredevil race named “The Inferno,” and its steep, imposing walls tested even the most skilled skiers of the time.
Today, on sun-splashed days from early April into June, hundreds of skiers and spectators still trek to Tucks, where 50 feet or more of snow greets them—challenging intrepid souls to climb as high as they dare, to find their line down, while everyone’s eyes look upward. —Mel Allen
I am continually impressed by this quintessential Orne photograph. When considering the weight of the equipment that must have been dragged into that location, it makes that beautiful scene even more impressive. 2.5 MILES with weighty, cumbersome camera equipment of that vintage staggers my mind.
And then Harold Orne captured so much activity in this single photo — people skiing, others watching the skiers, one person toward the lower left who looks like they are snowshoeing or hiking back up a hill — all while showing the grand majesty of this beautiful bowl and ravine within the Presidential Range.
Gorgeous work.
Thank you for acknowledging my great grandfathers work. He would be pleased to know others notice!
Amazing photo! Harold Orne is my great grandfather. We have hundreds of his original photographs with all his rewards on the back of them. We have the original ski race picture as well. If anyone is interested in learning more information, feel free to contact me!!
This is my great grandfather. We have the originals of this picture and hundreds of his other photos. He was a great man and he made great men.
So many have this picture in their personal collection and it will be viewed by many more, yet to be born. I have to take my wife up to Tuckerman soon to see the snow with her own eyes and watch the brave skiers!?
Interesting that the photo you have here is not the best variation of the scene IMHO. Harold probably took multiple photos at the event and a more action-packed lively one is available.
I would like to know if there is a way of finding out if any descendants of Harold Orne has his collection, if he saved all his works and how to find out how to contact them.
does anyone know his death date?
Matthew, good morning this July day in 2019. My late father (same name, but Jr. I am III) was one of the thousands of spectators at the Edson race. He saved the race results, a clipping he must have pulled from one of the Ski Annuals or seasonal publications of the time. I had no idea that this was the first time gates… sticks, actually, were used on Mt. Washington.
Did you ever determine identities of anyone in the picture? The guy finishing? Just an entertaining aside. The owner of a specialty beer store upcountry has a print of the Orne shot that might must be five feet wide. He pointed out one spectator at the finish line that “Just might be JFK!” He conceded it was all speculation… Frankly the years and timing do not make sense but why wreck the fun he has pointing Jack Kennedy out to customers. I mention this because it illustrates the tangents and detours a famous photograph can nurture as it lives on, indeed finds new life.
I assume this race started at the summit and descended the Right Gully?
Please feel free to respond to northwester@comcast.com because I am not sure when or if I will find my way back to this site.
Warmly, David Arnold, Boston