Brian came back to us quickly — he told us he would. His last attempt of Mt Washington was thwarted by dangerous high water crossings, some open, others bridged by deteriorating snow. This time the ground conditions where much firmer, and the water levels more normal, so the mission was a success. The leader of this mission, both times, was Redline Guide Álvaro Marques. Here’s what […]
Most of the rescues in the White Mountain National Forest are done by the victims and the party they are with — self rescues. Others are aided by passersby. More still, never need “rescue” because they just manage to avoid it. They have a close call or scary encounter, a near miss, and that’s it. They live, learn, and move on. Meet Shalla. Shalla is a […]
What does a person do when they can jump four feet but the crossing is five feet across? In the case of today’s attempt on Mt Washington, Redline Guide Álvaro Marques decided turning around was the best choice, so that’s what he and our guest, Brian, did. Apparently, they weren’t the only ones foiled today by the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, even though, considering the wind forecast, […]
Redline Guides Carl and Mike had a mission: ascend Mt Adams with guests William and Caitlin as far as Gray Knob — a treeline-situated cabin owned and operated by the Randolph Mountain Club. Once there they would partake in some varied training. (Due to the prior experiences of the guests, Mike felt some basic awareness level avalanche training would be fun and interesting.) The following day […]
The winds above treeline weren’t crazy by the AMC’s Lakes of the Clouds Hut — blowing 30-40 miles-per-hour or so at that location. The temperatures, on the other hand, were an attention-grabbing -20°F, or really close to that, anyway. We could have gone on, and maybe we could have made it if the winds on Mornoe’s summit were manageable. And we were going to try. We […]
THIS work of fiction isn’t meant to be shocking or morbid. That said, some might find it disturbing on some level, or chilling. That isn’t, however, its purpose. Nor is it meant to point out any glaring errors or huge lapses in judgement. You’ll find, in fact, that this could really happen to anyone. It can creep up on us, one moment an innocuous experience, the […]
Our mission: introduce a couple from Florida to the wonders of winter in New Hampshire and the amazing fun that can be had in snow. Even though one of them had never even seen the white stuff, we gladly accepted the mission. We had two days with them to work our magic. On day one we decided a nice snowshoe hike up South Moat Mountain would […]
A great way to spend the morning is sharing something you love and are passionate about with someone who is eager to learn whatever it is and wants to share your passion. That describes today. Our guest, Bob, wanted to learn some basic mountaineering skills, but since he had a fair amount of winter hiking experience, he didn’t necessarily need our winter skills course and thus […]
The forecast was concerning, as it often is on the 6288′ Mt Washington. The prognosticators of the weather predicted winds topping the century mark, with a slight lessening late in the day and more so over a 48-hour period. The temps were mild, and while they, too, were dropping, they were going to be staying on the charts — for now. But those winds! If the […]
We took the lovely young woman pictured in the photo on a custom snowshoe adventure today! Our client, Kaleigh, was having a birthday and decided to hire us for a snowshoe tour leading to someplace special above treeline… someplace cool. We chose the 3570′ South Baldface — one of the jewels of Evan’s Notch. From the summit we planned to either head to the 3610′ North […]
When leading on Mt Washington, barring the few I know that regularly work the west side (which we do as well on many occasions), professional guides generally lead groups up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, hop onto either the winter or summer route of the Lion Head Trail, then get back onto Tuckerman Ravine Trail for the push to the summit before reversing direction for the exit. […]
This is a copy of an article I wrote in 2015. I thought it might look nice here: The training is done, the gear packed, and the stoke is on… all is ready. Sure, the forecast could be better, as often is the case on the deceptive 6288′ Mt Washington — the highest point in the Northeast and notorious for its extreme weather — but the […]
