The Armchair Alpinist Thread

[peter]

So.

Mt. Washington Trip Report.

Only for those interested.

We had only one wee mishap.

T'was but a scratch.

Memorial service will be on Thursday.

Peter

[peter]

Four of us took an overnight drive to North Conway, New Hampshire, Thursday night, returning overnight last night.

In between, Dave Reid, Peter McVey, Pete Everett, and Glenn Lamont had four days of glorious weather, all used for alpine-style climbing in Huntington Ravine, Mt. Washington.

We stayed three nights in the Harvard Cabin at the foot of the ravine, Dave and Glenn opting for bivy sacks and Pete and Pete opting for the cabin. Met the usual crowd of decent and interesting people. Sunday night was all Canadian night in the cabin, eh?!

We climbed in roped and unroped pairs, Dave and Glenn, and Pete and Pete, with all but Glenn teaming up for Pinnacle on the last day. Routes climbed included Central (Dave and Glenn), Odell's (each pair), Yale (Pete and Pete), Damnation (each pair) and Pinnacle (Dave, Pete & Pete).

Descents were via Lion's Head, Escape Hatch, South, Diagonal and North gullies. Pete and Pete opted for alpine descents, which are as much fun as climbing, as they involve both solo snow walk downs and boulder or V-thread rappels, just to spice it up a bit.

All routes are about 500 to 750 feet in length, mixed snow and ice (mainly snow). Conditions were somewhat warm, with much solar activity on the snow on some days. Avalanche risk was moderate on about a third of the routes, on about half of the days, and low the rest.

Route information, if you are interested, may be found at http://www.chauvinguides.com/hunticeguide2.htm

Dave turned waitresses' heads, as usual, but this time due to his Parlee Brook stitches ("How does the other guy look?"). No one was hurt, died or hurt their pride, and I picked up twice over the booty I left on Yellow Pillar, the weekend before.

Thanks to Mike D. for the excellent tip on a most pleasant and capable climbing partner, and for the use of some gear. Go easy on Pete in Georgia, Mike; he is too nice a guy for you to chew up and spit out!

A most enjoyable way to spend four days, as the NS ice season winds down.

Peter

[dcentral]

Sounds fun.

[mike]

Glad ya'll had fun.

Feel free to post some pics somewhere- I'd love to check em out.

Mike

[Zamboni]

Ya, I'd like to check some pics too.

Conan.

[peter]

Dave, Pete and Glenn had cameras. I confess, it was my third trip, and the shoe box is filling up a bit in the tiny bit of the closet I am allowed to keep stuff in. Ouch. Yes, I am getting off the computer. Just don't hit me! One more post. I just wanted to say that

[mathieu]

Sweet, nothing beats that type of climbing, not too hard, long and in the alpine.

I've been meaning to go back to Mt. Washington for every winter for the pass 5 years and do all of those exact same climbs. Sounds sweet. Unfortunatly I'm now moved away so I don't think I'll be going for another 5 years.

Did you get any brutally cold days? The only time i've been we climbed Pinnacle and it was -70F with the windchill. Every one at the Harvard Cabin thought we were crazy when we left that morning. We weren't that crazy cause there was two other guys on the climb and had huge packs and were planning to traverse the mountain.

[peter]

Hey, don't worry: crazy is a continuum, ranging from mildly disturbed to totally deranged, as your experience proves!

No, we had sweet weather, sunny, around 12 F on the summit at the start of each day, and warming. The wind came in gusts, sometimes enough to knock you off balance, but that is only "normal" there, as you know. We had only a little precip, loading the top of the north facing routes only on one of the days.

I have gone twice before, and on each trip we were happy to have had one day out of five so nice. "Freezing fog" and low visibilityhas been more the norm. You did Pinnacle in far tougher conditions. My hands froze on that route, in the shade of the 2nd belay, but the screaming barfies were averted by booting it for the top and sunshine.

Long, moderate snow and ice is almost as good as multi-pitch 5.7 on rock: one could do it all day, but for minor irritants like cold and hunger.