Our two-day “Winter Mt Washington” program is very popular and for good reason. First of all the training is extremely helpful in keeping people on their feet and safe for the climb. Second of all, they look good doing it — versus that first-time-on-crampons awkwardness. It’s win-win. On this tour we had one student/guest, a 19-year-old from Connecticut. When he reached out we noted his address and mentioned that one of our guides was from his area. He responded to this news by asking: “Glenn?” Indeed he was right, and this wasn’t a referral, just proof that it’s a small world. And with that, we’ll let Redline Guide Glenn Van Neil — as he seemed to be the appropriate guide on this one — tell the rest:
Sometimes it’s the Wind
One day of instruction and preparation for George! Winter Skills are an important part of hiking and climbing in New Hampshire. Our 19-year-old guest wanted to learn how to do it safely and needed to prove to his mom that he was good to go. Then part two (Mountaineering Skills) was learning to walk and climb in crampons and most importantly how to self arrest in the event of a fall. Our guest was in shape and ready for the day. Success in all aspects.
Day two dawned with a formidable wind forecast. It was crystal clear visibility wise but the wind… I believe the current conditions on the summit of Mt Washington when we left Pinkham Notch were a current wind speed of 72mph and gusts of 90! The forecast did have the winds decreasing throughout the day so we figured we’d head up and give it a shot. The wind wasn’t bad up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, or even on the bottom and steep sections of the Line Head Winter Route, but then you could hear it. It really did sound like a jet engine just above our heads. What was a quick hike up to that point got really slow as the wind was right in our faces. We slowly made our way to the summit of the Lion Head and got the full brunt of the wind. Anytime you can lean 50° forward and not fall on the ground, you know the wind is really blowing. Even our guest felt it was time to go back down. A quick descent and we were back at Pinkham Notch in no time. Great trip just too bad we couldn’t get the summit. —Glenn
