Having stopgaps like turnaround times in place is a common-sense matter of safety. A turnaround time means one plans ahead to turnaround if not at the summit or other designated point by a particular time. If there was a misjudgment to the travel time — which can be due to a number of factors such as a lack of fitness, navigational challenges, difficult ground conditions, and others — the team turns. It was the aforementioned “difficult ground conditions” that just lead to a pre-summit turnaround time thwarting a snowshoe trail-breaking attempt of the 3238′ Smarts Mountain with an oft-returning guest. Redline Guide Howard Aronson second-guessed himself when he checked in. They could have made it, he thought, but then again, given the conditions, distance, elevation yet-to-be-gained, and time, he knows he made the right decision (and he did). The guest was fine with it. They had a great hike on a beautiful day. The mountain, as they say, will be there another day.
