About an hour before the team was to get up for their alpine start on summit day a large serac about the size of a small house, precariously perched along the up-hill edge of a massive expansion zone crevasse, fell into the depths with a thunderous crash. This crash was both heard and felt by everyone and those who had managed to actually fall asleep were […]
Some hikes are tougher on some days and easier on others. It’s the nature of the beast. And when Gridding — hiking all those 4000-footers each month of the year — one gets to see them all complete with varying stages and varying outcomes. The objectives on this particular hike — Zealand, West Bond, and Bond — did not come easy this time. But the team […]
It was one of those perfect days. Blue skies, comfortable temps, okay ground conditions, and Redline Guide Chase Hall was livin’ in the moment, helping an oft-returning guest work on his 4000-footer Grid attempt. Just plugging away! April 17th: Mt Field and Mt Willey. The Conditions were excellent for early spring. Threw on the snowshoes at the Mt Tom Spur. The snowshoes giving us the extra […]
The plan was to head up the Ammo with our oft-returning Gridder guest, wander over to George, then double back to finish a Southern Presidential Traverse. And the trail conditions were awesome until Redline Guide Chase Hall and guest got to the Lakes of the Clouds hut. Everything after that was icy — like crampons-icy. This slowed the team down a lot and they pivoted, deciding […]
There are four distinct seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall. But in the mountains, especially, the lines between these seasons can become blurred and indistinct. Case in point, one day it’s warm and sunny and very spring-like, surfaces getting softer as they melt in the sun, and the next day it’s full-on winter, all that melt water frozen creating a treacherous surface to climb on, with […]
The day was challenging on a few levels. Mostly thanks to the weather and ground conditions. That said, our guest was out there giving it her all so we applaud the effort. The objective was Mt Cabot (one of those 4ks) and unfortunately they weren’t able to summit, but as they say, the mountain will be there another day. On lead for this attempt was Redline […]
One of the most demanding classes we offer in terms of depth and complexity is our Wilderness Navigation course — ours is not a dumbed-down offering by any means. The “click” from our students’ understanding does occur, but it is definitely hard won. But when that happens, however, it’s immensely satisfying, both for us and our students. We do finish up the class giving homework, which […]
One meaning of the word view, as a noun, is to say it is a sight or prospect, typically of attractive natural scenery, that can be taken in by the eye from a particular place. For example: “The view from that mountain’s summit was sublime.” Inasmuch, one would immediately think this statement refers to seeing something awesome in the distance, far-reaching. But that’s far from correct. […]
With a huge amount of appreciation, we’d like to thank Black Mountain Ski Area in Jackson for allowing us to use their mountain to conduct glacier skills and mountaineering skills courses, the first of the season having taken place yesterday. This isn’t uncommon and has been the norm for us for several years — for which we’ve always been grateful — but this one was different. […]
The title of this post echos words spoken by those who train with us in the art and science of Wilderness Navigation (using map, compass, and brain capable of critical thinking). This time it was the Pemi Valley Hikers. Teaching this course (and several more on the books), as usual, was Redline Guide Mike Cherim along with co-lead Michael Scire. There’s not much more to tell […]
If you’re a New Hampshire hiker and familiar with the 48 it’s more than likely you’ll get more from the title of this post than those who don’t hike here. To those folks the title may seem a little dark or shadowy, or even troubling, or sad. To us, however, the Isolation part of the title is referring to the shorter (4004′) but still amazing high […]
Our guest from Texas plans to come back to hike Mt Washington this coming summer and, wow, he’s going to be shocked by what the southeastern snowfield looks like without snow smoothing the landscape. That section of Lion Head Trail is “wicked” (as we say up here) convoluted. That said, if wanting experiences in life, coming back to see the not-so-white mountain will be worth another […]
