Mount Washington Page 3

We are all amazed at how lucky we are to have such beautiful conditions as we tramp around the summit taking photographs:

Soon we put all our gear away and take off our crampons for the descent.  We’ll be moving much faster on the descent and with the increased pace and plunging footsteps in the snow the crampons won’t really be necessary.  Heading down toward Lion Head across the snowfield Joe snaps a photo of me with the cloud bank hovering just behind us:

On the way down our guides show us the really fun part of descending a mountain in the winter.  Sitting on our butts we glissade down the slope using our ice axes and boots to control our speed:

Taking deep steps through the snow toward Lion Head; coming down goes much faster than coming up:

A distorted panorama of us coming down the Mt. Washington summit flanks:

Crossing through the rock garden above the tree-line:

After a couple hours we get back into the woods and we have an exciting time glissading down the narrow trail winding through the trees.  It is almost like being on a water slide at a water-park, but much more fun!  Some of the steep sections through the woods require careful foot and axe placement to negotiate the slope and there are some tricky sections where a fall could potentially lead to a nasty slide and tumble.  With Joe and Tim expertly guiding us through we eventually emerge unscathed onto the gentle grade leading back down to Pinkham Notch.

 Reaching Pinkham Notch we are all (well, the clients anyway!) exhausted and thrilled at what an awesome day we had.   Joe and Tim were awesome guides and we learned a lot about winter hiking and climbing during our day with them.  The weather conditions were atypical of normal Mt. Washington winter weather and we were extremely lucky to have had such great conditions.  Like weather in any mountainous area the conditions can change rapidly and have deadly consequences if you aren’t completely prepared.  I’m glad I had all the extra gear with me just in case but I was grateful I didn’t need to use it.

 Returning to the hotel later that night I fell into bed exhausted and dreading the fact that I had to wake up at 3AM to drive back to Portland for my flight home.  I’ll definitely be back to visit the Presidential Range in the future.  Next time I’ll put aside a whole week to truly enjoy the entire area for all that it has to offer.

 Thanks so much to the Joe and Tim from Eastern Mountain Sports.  Whether you want to rock climb, ice climb, or hike peaks in the north-east or around the world, these guys (and gals) are top-notch!

** The photographs are mixed credits with about 1/2 shot by Joe Lentini and 1/2 shot by me. **

Click here to go to Chris & Marisa's web-page...

E-mail us: