The title of this post is likely going to be taken as a reference to generally bad weather by our readers but, really, its focus is on a specific element of the weather: the wind. On New England’s taller mountains — the ones offering alpine exposure like Mt Katahdin in Maine, Mansfield and Camel’s Hump in Vermont, and Moosilauke, peaks of the Franconia Ridge, and most […]
The mountains will always have the final say and, as mere mortals, we must abide. Winter Mt Washington trips result in a lot of shorted trips going only as far as we can, due to the frequency of impossible weather, but when it comes to things like traverses we have to be somewhat flexible. This is such a case, the guest wanting “something epic,” though the […]
The last ski trip featured gorgeous weather and this backcountry ski tour was no different, albeit actually spring now. Our guest requested “a dope day” in Tuckerman Ravine and on tap for the day was the line known as Lobster Claw. According to Redline Guide Will Murphy who led this tour, they were also to able include Little Headwall “with some creativity” and the John Sherburne […]
Wanting to experience Franconia Ridge in the snow, but not in extreme conditions, today’s guest had rescheduled from her original winter date, when the forecast was poor. Though now spring, there was still plenty of snow, both on the hike up Falling Waters Trail and across the Ridge itself, where we had abundant sunshine, solid walking surfaces, and very little wind — exactly the rare experience […]
We called this event Another Winter-ish Backpack with emphasis on the “ish” part because, to be accurate, this Backpacking event was fully in the spring. Winter turned to spring at 5:01AM on the 20th of March. This was a couple hours before our guest was to actually show up at our Basecamp. That said, up there in the mountains, complete with four inches of new snow […]
Safe climbable ice is getting tougher to find. In fact, for us, this trip is probably about it unless someone wants to seek it out in the ravines, but even that is going to become sketchy for the most part. The power of ice is impressive, but the longer, warmer days of spring will destroy it with certainty. Redline Guide Gregg Ludvigson, after scouting, decided to […]
SIGN UP WITH EMAIL Volunteer to give back to the WMNF mountains and their trails! For anyone who’s had the privilege of bushwhacking in the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF), you know just how instrumental the trails really are. If you think our trails are rugged, try pushing your way to the top of one of our 4000-footers off trail, amid the “pencil woods” — conifers […]
Spring hiking is here! That’s what Redline Guide Chase Hall discovered yesterday while guiding one oft-returning guest working on their Grid (all 48, every month). Their objective on this hike was to ascend Liberty Spring Trail to Franconia Ridge, tag Mt Liberty, then go after Mt Flume as an out-and-back returning the way they came. The plan for this “Fliberty” hike was straightforward, but the execution […]
What with all the crazy weather we see on Mt Washington, it’s almost a shock to the system to see a winter day such as this one. There were no blizzards, no icy downpours or thunder storms, no rime events, no hail, no avalanches, though breezy, there were no hurricane-force winds, no brutally cold temperatures, no clouds, no earthquakes or volcanos, no asteroid impacts, only limitless […]
He reached out wanting to hike Mt Washington but he had some uncertainty, which is perfectly understandable. He did have some hikes under his belt, mostly in Massachusetts and Virginia where he lived, but he wasn’t fully sure all the same. We listened then encouraged that he try anyway. There would be nothing to lose. Worst case, he’d stop short or maybe take on Mt Monroe […]
Spoiler alert: the Girl Scouts won! And so did we. The plan was to head up Mt Willard (one of those 52WAV peaks) and to check out the Crow Moon — one of the names for March’s full moon — enjoy some hot chocolate, and have a really fun adventure. Due to the visibility and precipitation forecast it was decided to err on the side of […]
We just wrapped up our first of two winter women’s only backpacking experiences for 2025 and it was a success. Learning goes further when coupled with camaraderie and that’s what these campers had. Together they lifted and supported one another. Like a team. As one guest put it: “Thanks for a great overnight, we had to shift gears and we ended up having the experience we […]
