In our Hike Intro Course we often refer to a scenario involving descending the sketchiness of the notorious Flume Slide Trail. It goes like this: 1) We have a plan to go up Flume Slide Trail to Franconia Ridge Trail, then head over the Liberty and descend Liberty Spring Trail soon after summiting; 2) We tell our students that for some contrived reason that we are actually unable to head across the ridge; 3) This leaves us with two choices — head down via Osseo Trail to Lincoln Woods and hitchhike back to go, or go back the way we came; 4) In this teaching scenario we head back down and explain how to do this safely. We won’t go into the technical details here, but we mention this because this possible scenario isn’t so contrived when it actually occurs. Leading this trip was Redline Guide Debra McCown. What follows are her words and some photos.
Using the “Foot Stabbies” — Avoiding the “Yeets”
The plan for Friday started out as a snow climb in Tuckerman Ravine, but the avalanche risk from a recent snowfall made a new plan necessary. We discussed Mt Flume, with the options of climbing the slide itself or Flume Slide Trail, which is also a bit of a (less exposed) snow climb in winter.
The guest said her main goal was to use her ice axe and ‘foot stabbies’ (a.k.a. crampons) and kick the sh*t out of a mountain somewhere — classic enjoyment of the outdoors as a form of stress relief!
After learning crampon skills and self-arrest techniques (which she referred to as ‘yeet class’) followed by a winter climb on Mt Washington last winter, she returned to put those skills to use on another objective.
After a long approach slog in difficult snow conditions, Flume Slide Trail became the obvious choice. This guest braved icy blowdowns, countless snow bombs, increasing winds, and intermittent rain to reach the top of the slide trail and then slog safely — but soaking wet — back to the car.
The foot stabbies were used. No unintentional yeets occurred. A mountain was kicked and stabbed repeatedly. We call that a successful day. —Debra
