A returning guest — one who’s taken our mountaineering skills and intro to ice climbing courses, and more (including some alpine ice) — wanted to get back out there and just do some ice climbing on top rope. To climb some laps so as to work on the mechanics, in lieu of overcoming trepidation. To tweaking body positions, etc., working on refinement of the base skills […]
Like a fine wine or cheese, aging sometimes enhances things. This trip, for example, began over a year ago so it was at its peak of perfection. Last year they tried to ski some developed backcountry ski glades up north, but conditions were nasty. Ice and dirt — though not uncommon for the Northeast. This year Redline Guide Pat Ferland, determined to make up for last […]
The team started off at the Cog base taking advantage of the forward position to facilitate an easier entry. Our guest — a member of the Veterans on the 48 — wanted to experience some alpine action and do a winter shakedown at the same time — these, in tandem, were the primary purpose of the trip. They planned to ascend the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, maybe […]
According to the Mt Washington Avalanche Center (MWAC) the avalanche conditions were considered “High,” in the red, meaning natural avalanches are going to happen and human-triggered avalanches a certainty, overall pushing the risks to backcountry skiers and riders to the extreme. But it’s a powder day! Are we just going to sit here? We decided going in as far as we can go safely a sound […]
There once was time that it was inconceivable that the thing that just happened happened. That thing being a winter ascent of the “steeps” on the winter route of the Lion Head Trail. And not just an ascent our guest survived, we should note, but there was fun mixed in with the other senses being stimulated. The steeps, as they’re referred, are 3-4 “pitches” of very […]
Awaken from their winter slumber, it was time to hit the hills once again. This time our returning guests were shown the 4313-foot Mt Pierce. This, we say, is a good first 4000-footer. In this case, however, this was their fifth of the 48 — Redline Guide Pat Ferland leading this mother-son team each and every time before this. The mother’s change of job, we understand, […]
We got to the trail junction, sure the snowshoe tracks we followed would turn with us as we made our detour to Elephant Head. We were wrong. The easy, broken trail continued on toward the high peaks, what we had before us was pristine snow. Unbroken. We would do the breaking. A quick shout out to Madison and Jack. Congratulations you two on your beautiful wedding. […]
Things were so freaking crazy, Redline Guiding utilized 50% of its Mikes this past weekend! When things get super busy we start consolidating our media. This blog post is representative of one of those times. This weekend many students of various disciplines and climbers — some our returning friends from Veterans on the 48 — learned things and did things in our mountains. What follows in […]
Another Skills and Mt Washington weekend happened, this time a team of four friends were taught and led by Redline Guide Pat Ferland. On the morning of day one he shared with them the ins-and-outs of planning and preparing, covered everything from gear to gizmos needed to execute the climb. In the afternoon Pat took them to one of our local training grounds to cover the […]
A really great daughter decided on a really great “gift of adventure” for her mom — she purchased a Redline Guiding gift certificate. Honestly, we’re honored that our services may be special enough to someone to qualify as a gift. And what a “great gift” it was. She would use it for a full-day hiking intro course, which features some boots-on-the-ground (or spikes-in-the-snow) action. The really […]
Long before operations on the Ammo were even underway, Redline Guide Will Murphy and a returning guest were leaving Appalachia behind making their way up to the ridgeline that connects the Northern Presidential peaks. The objective of the day was to hike an entire “Classic traverse” — meaning connecting the obligatory peaks through and including Mt Madison on the northern end and Mt Pierce as the […]
Our guest was quite experienced, but having never hiked the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail — a.k.a. “the Ammo” — in winter, she wanted to have a companion for this attempt of Mt Washington’s summit via this route. She also hoped that she’d have a reason to don her new-ish crampons and try them out but as it turned out, spikes and snowshoes were all that was needed. […]
