Category Archives: Trip Reports

The posts in this category detail some of our more memorable trips and events.

“I Highly Recommend This NEM Course”

AIARE Avalanche 1 Course With Northeast Mountaineering

To increase my education for safe travel in avalanche terrain, and to help me better assist with the Ski Committee’s annual Avalanche Awareness course, I spent January 6-8 at Northeast Mountaineering in North Conway, taking an AIARE 1 course taught by NH guide and AIARE instructor Dave Lottmann.

 

For many years, Dave taught avy education for EMS and this was his first year with NEM and also the outfit’s first avy course. Besides Dave’s expertise, the greatest benefit of taking the course through NEM was the fact that on-site lodging in the NEM bunkhouse was provided to all students, which led to great group bonding, cost savings, and convenience. It was basic hostel-style living, but it was comfortable and clean. For the record, you can book a bunk there even if you’re not taking a course for $20 per night, which is a steal!

​Our classroom: quaint!

​Our classroom: quaint!

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Exploring the Willey Range

Exploring the Willey Range: A Bushwhacking Adventure

Curiosity and ideas draw me out of complacency. As a result, I enjoy venturing deep into the backcountry. I’ve found that the further I travel off trail, the faster I enter a state of flow and the deeper my respect for nature and wilderness grows.

This Autumn, curiosity lured me to an area of steep beauty: the Willey Range. I wanted to locate a series of landslides and cliffs in a remote pocket of the White Mountains and to climb the cliffs to the trail along the ridge. On a sunny Saturday, I drove to Crawford Notch and began my hike. Once I reached the proper location and elevation, I headed south along a contour toward my beautiful cliffs. Continue reading →

So You Want to Ski In the Chic Chocs?

Over the Border and Through the Blizzard to The Chic Chocs We Go.

CONTRIBUTION FROM NEM GUIDE, COBY JACOBUS

SOMETIMES, YOU JUST GOTTA GO. WITH PERMISSION OF COURSE.

We all have that one friend who shoots out a random text about some crazy trip to a far away place with mystical blower powder. Well…that’s Ryan Gibbs to me! His Instagram name is @powdergibbs for god’s sake!

Right after Christmas he texted me about this crazy idea to ski some amazing Canadian powder in the Chic Chocs. The drive he said is only eight hours…from Orono, ME. I don’t live in Orono though, so tack on another 2.5 for me! Great!!! 10.5 hours of driving with only a guide book, some random online searching and words from friends and friends of friends! This is a stupid idea I thought. I even told Ryan, “Ryan, I don’t know man, my wife will kill me, I’ve got a dog and a 7 month old at home. Its a lot of driving and we don’t even know if the snow is gonna be good.”

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