# Blue Hills Backcountry 2/13 & 2/16/2015



## noreasterbackcountry (Feb 18, 2015)

Those of us living in Boston don't have to drive too far to find some great fresh powder runs this year.

I did some exploring around Blue Hills in the last week after having avoided the place for a few years.  There are some great glade runs in there- steep, powdery, challenging (albeit short).

If you have a couple hours it is worth checking out.









Full writeup here:  http://nebackcountry.blogspot.com/2015/02/snowpocalypse-in-blue-hills-burbcountry.html


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## Newpylong (Feb 18, 2015)

A true skier routinely questions the "skiability" of things in their mind. This would be one of them. Nicely done!


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## joshua segal (Feb 18, 2015)

I've skied the Blue Hills sidecountry in some really good seasons, ca. 2000, but I was told that in the blizzard of '77, people were skiing almost to Rt. 128.  How far south did you go?


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## noreasterbackcountry (Feb 18, 2015)

joshua segal said:


> I've skied the Blue Hills sidecountry in some really good seasons, ca. 2000, but I was told that in the blizzard of '77, people were skiing almost to Rt. 128.  How far south did you go?



I only skied down to the road that runs along the southern edge.  I think that 128 may have been re-routed at some point.  I remember biking over near the pond and seeing an abandoned section of highway in the woods.  I wonder if they were referring to skiing down to that part.




Newpylong said:


> A true skier routinely questions the "skiability" of things in their mind. This would be one of them. Nicely done!



This may be the first time I've been accused of being a true skier.  You haven't seen me ski so that is understandable.


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## 1Kathleen (Feb 22, 2015)

I wonder if those are your ski tracks I could see on the RTE 128 side of the mountain as I was driving to work a week or two ago. I was surprised to see ski tracks because under the snow is a steep and rocky cliff that I hiked that last fall. Having hiked it, I was thoroughly impressed by whoever dared to ski that section of the mountain. Impressive.


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## noreasterbackcountry (Feb 23, 2015)

Not mine. Although, I was impressed with that line as well.  

 I was way too busy tracking up the glades in there.  It was amazing that even on Saturday afternoon there were still a lot of untracked lines in the trees.  It seemed like most of the folks who ventured in there stuck to the hiking trail (or very close to it).


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## Bumpsis (Mar 1, 2015)

Very inspiring report. I live withing a 10 minute drive of the Big Blue and often I'm there on snow shoes or XC skis. I often look at the possible descent lines that I perhaps would take if I ever ventured there with alpine touring equipment (don't have it).

There are some really sweet lines to be had on the eastern side of Hancock Hill. The top of the hill has a great snow cover so boulders and brush are all buried, opening some nice lines. The top has some steeper sections and then there is a longer, mellower pitch with lots of room between trees leading back to the road at the base of the hill. It's really quite a short descent but with current cover and some additional fresh powder coming, there are some sweet turns to be had by a skilled back country skier, which noreasterbackcopuntry clearly is.

Hancock Hill is a bit less frequently visited and it can really give the sense of relative isolation which is actually quite surprising, given its location. 

You would get to it by continuing further down the road past Brookwood Community Farm. Once you pass the parking lot for Houghton's Pond (on your right) continue on. Pass the State Police station on the left, bear left as the road forks. There is a small parking area (for 3 or 4 cars) on the left. Trail for for Hancock Hill starts right there.


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## noreasterbackcountry (Mar 2, 2015)

I believe I've hiked through that area, but haven't been there in a while.  I will definitely have to go check it out.  Thanks for the heads-up.  With that snow last night I'm sure there are fresh lines all around.  Hopefully I can get to it before it gets rained on and freezes up Wednesday.


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