The difficulty of any challenge is defined by those who attempt it, meaning it is always a matter of perspective. Regardless of said perspective, though, we can all hopefully agree that New Hampshire’s Mt Washington, at only 6288′ above sea level, is a pretty tough mountain to beat. The relentless incline, the steep sections, and some often wicked ground conditions mean this stubby mountain is no pushover. Not only is it home to the world’s worst weather, but many have fallen prey to this savage beast. We’ve even had people claim that to them it’s more demanding than Mt Rainier in Washington State. We don’t necessarily agree, but on the other hand we can appreciate why some may see it that way. It’s all a matter of perspective, as we wrote.
The great group we just hosted came to us from variety of locales. Namely the team consisted of one person from Iowa, one from Connecticut, one from Kansas, one from Texas, and two from California. They weren’t strangers, though, despite their far-flung distribution. They came to us as one. On mountain they were led by Redline Guides Chase Hall and Gregg Ludvigson and they had their eyes on the Mt Washington summit, but the reality of it all eventually stole that vision. Ground conditions alone put some of the team in a situation they’d never been in before. Not that this is a bad thing, but the challenge skills, and experience needed was underestimated by some of the group’s members. Nonetheless they all had a terrific time making memories that will last and last.
For more details about this adventure, here’s a short summary from Chase along with some randomly-ordered photos from both guides…
April 26th Mt Washington attempt: The Conditions were pretty sloppy with wet snow and icy. Microspikes were fine but for first timers using the traction was really tough. We took our time and we just took it step by step. The energy of the group was fantastic, everyone was very appreciative of the guides leading the way. The group had to split up after the Gorge right before it got super steep so one guest had enough and wanted to turn around. Gregg took her down and she was happy with that decision. I took the rest of the group up a little further to try and reach Lakes of the Clouds hut before our turn around time of 2PM. I wanted our guests to get a view of Mt Washington but soon reality set in. Time wasn’t our friend anymore. Climbing up the user-friendly monorail turned to solid ice and exposed rock, water was running under the snow. We turned around 3/10ths of a mile from the hut. Unfortunately the ground conditions were slowing the group down and it wasn’t the day to be exposed with rain and temps dropping back into the 20s by early evening. The group was fantastic and some want to come back and try for a 2nd time, wanting to come back when it’s warmer and with no snow. I loved their determination. The mountain isn’t going anywhere. I would love to try lead them again when they’re ready to try. —Chase
