Hauling ski gear on the two-hour hike from Pinkham Notch and then carrying it up the steep headwall of the ravine is tough work but skiers say the effort is worth the experience of skiing the ravine.

Skiers make their way up a section of the ravine.

With skis strapped to his backpack, a skier hikes up through The Chute at Tuckerman's.

Robert Both of Toronto, Canada, skis down a portion of Tuckerman Ravine in Pinkham's Grant. Both and his friend Geoff Sugar drove nine hours from Toronto to ski the ravine.

Andrea Hrynchuk of New Hampshire has skied the ravine for 39 years and says that she's never seen so little snow so early in the spring. She was supposed to ski later in the spring with friends but was glad she came last weekend. "I think this is it, this is as good as it gets," she said. "This is a gift."

Russell Merchant of New York skis down through The Chute as two people make their way up the route.

A sign warns people of the dangers of skiing and hiking in Tuckerman Ravine in winter.

A snowboarder makes his way through The Chute. Most people who headed to Tuckerman's in late March were surprised by the lack of snow.

A skier descends Tuckerman's with bare ground visible behind him.

Matt Spencer, who traveled from Toronto, makes a turn below The Chute in Tuckerman Ravine.

A skier makes his way down The Chute in Tuckerman's Ravine in New Hampshire's White Mountains.

Among the turn marks of previous skiers, a man skis down Tuckerman Ravine in the late afternoon light.

The ravine may have the last and best skiable snow in the Northeast but veteran skiers say the ravine has less snow and more exposed rocks this year than in past years.