Down low, in the Mt Washington and Androscoggin Valleys, it wasn’t bad. Winter still but we hit the low 50s at one point when the sun was trying to take over. We could see the cloud layer above and wondered how bad it was above treeline. Up there there’d be cool winds and misty clouds — what they call “hypothermia weather.” It did look like they […]
Event: A New Hampshire Mountain Running Epic We’re planning on Trail Running the Pemi (the rim of the Pemigewasset Wilderness) a couple days after the 6/20 Summer Solstice and we hope you’ll join us… well, not everyone. This extreme trail running event is going to be tough, and the hope is to get it done in around 12 hours. You will need to be ready for […]
A returning father/son came back to complete their mountaineering adventure with us. We’re not sure how long the ice will be around in lower elevation spots like this, but the team did get the goods on this visit. Not only did they climb up and rappel down Willey’s Slide, Redline Guide Pat Ferland also showed some of the tricks of the trade, so to speak. Pat […]
With age comes wisdom. Wool replaces cotton. We wear seatbelts on our drive to and from the trailhead. We get enough sleep, stay hydrated, and we don’t go it alone as often as we used to. We’re reminded — sometimes by a spouse — that there are bold hikers and there are old hikers, but rarely seen is one who’s bold and old. Hire a guide […]
Being an east coast company, one might guess seeing a lot of business from the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) crowd is rather unlikely. But that’d be incorrect… much to our surprise and delight. The reality is that a lot of people headed over there to hike the PCT are temporarily leaving this coast to do so. To them, at least during the prep phase, we’re local. […]
We had a fellow new to backcountry skiing looking to get out and sample the goods. He had heard good things. While he was new to the scene, he opted to forego our more formalized training and to jump right in. He was a confident, skilled skier so this would be no problem. Which is good because as is typical in the backcountry, conditions were variable […]
He reached out to us wanting to establish a date on the ice. Not for himself, but for his wife. She had a birthday coming up and he knew that doing some multipitch ice climbing was high on her list. We were there to make the day a reality as it turned out. The whole family was at our Basecamp the morning of, but dad was […]
Our first Mt Washington Observatory (MWOBS) Overnight Adventure was a success. Unfortunately not everyone who signed up was able to participate. The weather was the reason for the bulk of those who didn’t do it. As often occurs on Mt Washington, the weather was being naughty. Very windy and very cold. Not enough for our trained guides to throw in the towel on, but approaching that. […]
Our recent Snow Moon Snowshoe event was a big success. We had seven participate — led by Redline Guide Mike Cherim — and they were from all over, hailing from Quebec to Florida with a couple of New England states well-represented in the middle. The super low temperatures were a cause for concern, but everyone was decently geared-up and ready, at least for the objective at […]
You’ve probably heard of the New Hampshire 4000-footers. There are 48 of them. We’ve mentioned them a time or two. Hiking them in the three seasons (spring, summer, and fall) is an insanely popular activity nowadays. Taking on those peaks in the winter is also gaining traction — see what we did there? There are no bugs, you still sweat but you also cool down faster, […]
These two peaks — Morgan and Percival — appear on the 52 With a View list — numbers 51 and 52, respectively — but they may be even more well known for their sketchy bits earning them not one but two places on the Terrifying 25 list as well. This day wasn’t about sketchy bits, though. This was just a hike, exercise, fresh air, and views. […]
A father and son team from New York came to us hoping to do some ice climbing, to take an intro course, but also asked that they get exposed to mountaineering skills such as studying the use of crampons and ice axe. These skills, the father mentioned, will ultimately be more useful in the short term. If we can give someone a cake and let them […]
