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[TR] MT WASINGTON NH - 1/1/2007


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Trip: MT WASINGTON NH -

 

Date: 1/1/2007

 

Trip Report:

GLOBAL WARMING? nh dec 25 no snow.

went to mt. wash in nh. over xmas weekend. wanted to do a training hike and climb to evaluate a bunch of new high alt gear i bought . the summit forecast for 24-25th was for freezing rain,fog and 70 mph winds with gusts to 120mph. just what i needed. i had to be careful because i was alone.i left the parking lot at 3;30pm and hiked for 3-4 hours ,went up to the ridge to see if i could camp there but the winds were 40-50 already.i returned to treeline and camped on the only patch of blown thick snow i could find.normally you're hip deep by early dec. next morning (11am) i got an early start , bundled up and hiked back up to the ridge. it was a glorious xmas morning and the wind had died to 10-20mph. there was no one on the mountain. i donned crampons and hiked the 2mile long icy trail.new boots were great , pack was comfy (30lbs)all was well. after 4hrs i arrived at lake in the clouds. from there the summit is a 2hr icy/rocky/climb .not technical but that is where the winds get brutal. being alone and nearing darkness,idecided to camp. i wanted to test my '100 mph' tent. i melted and ate and dozed off. at midnite i as awaken by noise. finally the wind was picking up. i rocked and rolled for the next 24hrs.i could NOT get out of the tent.winds were up maybe 80-100 mph .130+ on summit. i had a somewhat sheltered low spot so i didn't get airborne. had to close all vents so it frosted up overnite but not bad. everything held up fine. at noon the next day the winds slowed to 30-40 so i went out to assessthe new conditions. some snow had fallen and the summit was socked in.10 ft vis.again being alone i decided not to go up and descended by another trail. 7hrs later i was back at my car.

 

nice controlled, simple ,dangerous hike/gear test.cant wait to go climbing.

 

i had a nice xmas!!

 

Gear Notes:

ev2 tent, mt.hw 0* bag, vasque plastics, 2f,nf down ,shell,bibs,balaclava,gogles, snopeak mini stove , propane. 3/4thermarest. jansport 8000 pack.

 

Approach Notes:

from crawford notch.

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I was just in NH as well... So strange to be there this time of the year without any snow. Sounded link a good little test for you. Was there anyone in the LOTC hut?

i'm out of shape, so it was a good way to get some hours in and practice mountain awereness. saw no body on whole mountain in3 days.

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  • 3 weeks later...

virendra7

An excellent approach and prudent backoff on Mt. Washington. I did Lion's Head in Jan '78 on a clear calm day and laid on the summit in my skivvies smoking a butt with the smoke raising 20 feet straight up. On the other hand, I've cornered the 4 mile post on the auto road where the wind lifted and flipped me backwards, even though I was sans pack, on my face, on the ground, with crampons and hand axes. At 120 mph, you cannot breathe. If your mouth is into the wind, your lungs stay inflated. If your mouth is against the wind it is deflated. It is a moot point to suggest some sort of oscillatory mouth movement since the cold and wind and eye moisture freeze the inside of your goggles, obviating vision. Removing the goggles only causes your eyelids to freeze shut.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

climbed it again on jan 26th in record cold temps. -36f!! with 40-70 mph winds= -70f.....coldest conditions i ever been in... left crawford at noon and got close to lake o' clouds at 4'30. pitched tent in 40 -50 mph winds at -30. whoooa!. winds kept up until 3am.broke one guy line ... i was wearing all i had with me and was still cold. (10deg bag). sat morning i got up ,packed and went to summit. and out amenusuc trail. margin of error soloing in those conditions in slim.monday went ice climbing in frankenstein. did the hobbit couloir (20 " wide),chia, bob's delight.

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Where your damn pictures!!!!! Hobbit's is sweet little climb, now if there was about 500 feet that it would be a stellar out of this world climb. Chia pet or direct or was it just the ramp. Definitely get on Dracula, Pegasus right, Penguin, Standard. Also get to Cathedral get on Repentence and Remission, if you need to get a rope gun because climbs don't get much better than those. Oh yeah if you keep going up on to Washington, do something fun, there has to be ice in up there by now, hell I have climbed as early as October, get on Pinnacle or Pinnacle Ridge.

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did dracula yesterday. really nice. brittle , hard to get screws in. but very nice shape . was -5f. will do pinnacle this coming weekend iguess. i'm really working on my mounteneering winter skills and gear right now 'cause i 'm going to an 8k'er in june. g1 /g2. i did washington again sunday with a 4am start in -5f at base and -30 at summit with 40mph from lake and 70 mph for last few hundred yards to summit . was back at base in 5hrs up/down.fun in a 'i need to know this' kind of way.will post pics .

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  • 1 month later...

went back this weekend after the warm spell. did a11hr loop from crawford to the wash summit and down amenusuc. weird conditions. warm and soft halfway up with post holing ,followed by rock solid snow the next morning in 10's temp followed by bare rock/ice hiking to wash' summit. very annoying stuff. next day we went to frankenstein and did pegasus with curtain (thin) start and chia direct in gr. 5 conditions. lots of unbounded ice to clean.picks later.

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