On Saturday January 28th, we climbed Mt. Washington. The day was yet another perfect one for climbing. We got started from Pinkham Notch around 8AM with 8 climbers. The Tux trail was fully covered with snow, which made for easy-going. No traction was needed at all, although I do wish we had skis for the descent! Conversation with our new friends made the first hour fly by and before I knew it, we were at the Fire road junction. After putting on crampons, harnesses, helmets, turning on our beacons, and swapping our trekking poles with an ice axe, we began the steep ascent to Lions Head via the Winter Route. The route had great snow coverage throughout. We found only one short 20ft section which we set up a handrail for added protection. This section caused a bit of a traffic jam. Once past it, we continued up steep terrain until it began to mellow out as we approached tree line. From that point, it was another 30 minutes or so to Lions Head and to our surprise, no wind. It was at this point where 3 climbers made their decision to spin it around. Brett hung out with them on Lions Head for quite some time, taking in the views before heading down. I continued on to the summit with 5 climbers. The summit cone had sustained 30mph winds, but rather tame by Mt. Washington standards. After our customary summit shots, we took in the views, ate some food, and celebrated with some hot chocolate for the group. There is nothing better than warm liquids when you’re in a cold environment. After a fairly uneventful (thats a good thing) descent we arrived back at the rock/ice section of the winter route and I again set up a handrail which aided our descent past this tricky section. I think the climb took us around 8 hours or so roundtrip. Another great climb of Mt Washington and a big thank you to all of the climbers who decided to come along.

Climbing the Rock/Ice step on the Lions Head Winter Route.

View into Tuckermans from the traverse to the summit cone.

The summit of Mt. Washington

The Summit Crew at 6,288ft.

Despite the long wait.. winter has settled onto Mt. Washington and the White Mountain National Forest. Although there still is not a very deep base of snow, they have had wind gusts of 122MPH and it is currently -11 degrees at the summit with a 53MPH wind which brings the wind chill down to a chilly -48 degrees! Thats a lot of clothing to wear to stay warm! Check out this website for updated reports from the Observatory team on the summit. http://www.mountwashington.org/weather/comments/

On Sunday December 18th we took advantage of the clear skies and climbed Mt. Madison. We got off to a late start at 10AM on the Valley Way trail. It was mostly snow covered leaves on the trail. There is no need for any traction down low. After an hour and a half of climbing the trail became a frozen stream and careful footwork was needed. Micro Spikes or Yak Trax would suffice nicely. Crampons would have been more of a nuisance than a help. We broke treeline in about 3.5 hours and stepped into the sun for the first time. We took a break at Madison Spring Hut and we were joined by a moose! I haven’t seen a whole lot of wildlife during the day in the White Mountains, so this was a very rare treat! We snuck by the moose who was nearly blocking our trail and headed up the Osgood Trail toward the summit of Madison. The summit cone of Madison is very blocky and tedious, but rather short. We reached the summit a little over 4 hours from the car. We spent about 15 minutes on the summit taking pictures and basking in the sun before we had to drop back into the shadow cast by Mt Adams. Above treeline, the trail is a mix of snow and rock and again crampons were not needed, although micro spikes would be helpful. On the descent, we again found the moose, but this time he was blocking our route down, so we coaxed him into moving over a few feet through yelling at him and rolling a stone near him. We snuck by him and the rest of the descent was uneventful. I used crampons on the descent in some spots to avoid slipping on the ice in the trail. Brett opted to go without the crampons and he wasn’t too bothered with the slippery conditions. The round trip took us 7.5 hours. Madison is probably my second favorite peak in the presidentials. Adams being the first. Again.. we lucked out on the weather! Cold, but no wind and clear skies..

Breaking treeline and leaving the cold shade behind.

Although we made the summit, the moose was the highlight of the day!

Mt. Adams on the right and Mt. Washington peaking out on the left.

Mt. Adams.. Second Highest in New England, dominates the horizon

Climbing to the false summit of Madison. The real summit is 2 minutes past the high point seen here