It’s spring in the Valley but still very wintery at higher elevations. Despite this fact, however, most folks are in spring mode. As if to punctuate this, Redline Guide Debra McCown checked in at the AMC Trails Desk at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center and suggested it was time to close the Lion Head Winter Route. This decision is one the USFS “Snow Rangers” make, but the AMC will pass it along. She told them she laid eyes on it today and it appeared to be in pretty rough shape. Inasmuch she decided to take our guests up Hillmans Highway hoping to offer the two-day training and mountaineering experience they came for (probably the last one of this season). The training location courtesy of Black Mountain Ski Area in Jackson (thank you). What follows is a summary of both days along with some photos.
‘I’m glad we did the rope thing,’ one of the guests said, about two pitches in, as the firm snow began to get steeper. I could sense that, as we approached the steeper terrain about halfway up the couloir, safety and their comfort zone, on what was literally their first time climbing a mountain, dictated that using a rope and pickets would be a good idea. We went a bit higher in yesterday’s swirling snow and gusting winds, though ultimately time and weather were factors in our decision to turn around before topping out.
We had initially planned to go up the Lion Head Winter Route, but it was clear when we reached the bottom of the step that there wasn’t enough snow left to make it any fun. But my guests still wanted to climb snow and get a cool mountain experience, so we made a new plan for one of the few routes that are still reliably filled with snow this time of year: Hillman’s Highway.
Turning around on the winter route left us with a bit of a time crunch if we hoped to get to the top, but they chose this option over trying to dash for the summit on a hiking route. It was windy and snowing — certainly not bad by Mt Washington standards, but gnarly enough that all the skiers we saw turned around at the bottom.
As we continued up into the storm, we got glimmers of sunshine along with bursts of wind and waves of spindrift from above. It felt like a classic springtime squall and a perfect introduction to the White Mountain.
And on the descent, once we had gotten back down to lower-angle terrain, they took their crampons off and glissaded down the soft, accumulating snow to the bottom. It was certainly different from anything my guests had experienced at home in Massachusetts — and they were hooked. They said they’ll be back next season, to conquer Hillmans Highway and the summit. Also, they wanted to know what harder routes exist. They’d like to try those next. —Debra
Day One: TRAINING DAY
Day Two: CLIMBING DAY
