We had couple of fellows reach out looking to salvage their day. They had planned on coming up to do some ice climbing with a group but it ended up getting canceled as climbable ice is limited right now (that may change briefly, now with snow on its way — cross your fingers). Instead of ice climbing they opted for a Glacier Skills Course. This, we […]
Flexing our flexibility is sometimes what we have to do. Flipping the safety switch, as needed. Here’s what happened: A returning guest reached out, so stoked about her recent winter hiking experience with us that she wanted to do it all again. This time, though, she also wanted to introduce her husband to the sport. Since Redline Guide Chase Hall led her last time, he was […]
She wanted to get certain 4000-footer peaks hiked so we got her out there for one trip. We put Redline Guide Chase Hall on it and it worked out well. Naturally, one success leading to another, when she came to us with a list of peaks for March, we knew what to do. We put Chase on it again. Up next? This round’s objective was to […]
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 […]
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, […]
