She wanted to hike three mountains, two of them 4000-footers. Namely, she wanted the Tripyramids and reached out to us looking for a guide/companion. Her friends, it seems, wanted no part of taking on “terrifying” trails — but this is what she wanted. Specifically she wanted to take on the infamous “North Slide” and the less scary (and sunnier) “South Slide.” She wrote:
I’ve only hiked the Whites in summer. I think I’m just overly paranoid about weather/cold there so I’d rather have someone experienced with me. I’m not the fastest, but I can go forever. It’s hard to get friends to hike with me when the trails are called ‘Terrifying!’ —Guest Comment
These slides are both part of the Mt Tripyramid Trail and connect to Livermore Trail which runs from Lily Pond on “the Kanc” (Rte 112) to Waterville Valley. As you’ll see in the photos Redline Guide Chase Hall took, there’s a considerable difference between these two slides. But before we get into the photos, Chase supplied this summary:
With a dusting of snow and cold temperatures it made for a chilly hike up the North Slide to the North Tripyramid summit. I’ve been eager to guide the North Slide with the challenge of the ground conditions we had. When Mike got the call from a guest that wanted to hike up the North Slide in winter-like conditions it was a dream came true. What an awesome experience to be able to help someone hike the North Slide in such conditions. It was a great experience and I can’t wait to do it again. I love walking in the Waterville Valley forest with its 2.4 miles of flat gravel road walk before the excitement begins.
The North Slide was covered in snow and the sun was not high enough in the morning sky to help with giving us any warmth. We just needed to keep hiking up so we just kept our heads down and continued to the summit where the sun was shining and the temps were finally starting to rise. Once we reached the North summit we were in the sun and stayed there all day. The pace of the hike was finally able to slow down a lot, to be more relaxed. We were so happy to be in the sun and having done the most challenging part of the day we knew the rest of the day was just a fun hike in the sun. —Chase
