Alpine Climbing on Mt Washington: March 11th-13th, 2016
Paul traveled East from Colorado in the hopes of doing a shakedown on Katahdin in preparation for our upcoming climbing trip to the Alaska Range in May. Unfortunately the very bad snow cover in the East kept us from reaching Katahdin (the Roaring Brook Road wasn't skiable) so we went up Mt Washington in the hopes of finding anything frozen to climb.
March 11th, 2016
We left Pinkham Notch around 9:30am after securing spots in the Harvard Cabin for Friday and Saturday nights. Since we didn't know exactly what conditions were like up on the mountain, we brought just about all the possible ski and climbing equipment to make sure we had a good time. Our packs were heavy, and we were slow. It didn't help that the snow conditions on the TRT alternated between mud and bulletproof ice. We eventually arrived at the Cabin and dumped a lot of our gear. We still had a couple hours to kill before dark so we skinned up to Tucks to check out the skiing. We found elevated wet-snow avalanche hazard and only marginal skiing, so we decided to just turn around and head back to the Cabin.
Wonderful skinning conditions on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail
Photo: Paul Kaster
Refueling in the Harvard Cabin after dumping most of our gear
Much happier with lighter packs
Tucks wasn't in the greatest of condition, so we headed back down to the Harvard Cabin
That night we had a full house. The Harvard Cabin sleeps 16 people and just about every spot was filled. We shared the Cabin with two parties from Quebec, a trio of mountaineers from PA, and a large guided party from somewhere in Canada (I never did figure that one out). It's a small space so everyone must become fast friends.
After dark fun in the Harvard Cabin
March 12th, 2016
Paul and I woke up ahead of the rest of the Cabin and quietly made our way to Huntington Ravine. We were hoping to climb one or two of the alpine gullies up there to dial in our climbing techniques and get a gauge on how fast we can expect to move over similar terrain in Alaska. We found Pinnacle Gully in decent but exciting condition and started off with that. Our plan was to climb Pinnacle Gully, then descend South Gully and climb Odell's Gully before returning to the Harvard Cabin. We made good time up Pinnacle Gully despite some tedious climbing.
The base of Huntington Ravine. Normally this is all covered with snow at this time of year
Heading toward Pinnacle Gully, which is hidden behind Pinnacle Buttress, the triangular rock formation in the center of the photo. Photo: Paul Kaster
At the base of the first pitch.
Photo: Paul Kaster
First pitch of Pinnacle Gully was brittle but fat and blue
Photo: Paul Kaster
Paul finishing the first pitch
Hollow and detached ice made the 2nd pitch of Pinnacle Gully the crux. Normally it's significantly easier than the first pitch.
Photo: Paul Kaster
Paul breathing a sigh of relief as he passes the most delicate section of the 2nd pitch
As I was leading the 3rd pitch, a free soloist climbed past the party below us (Quebecois friends we met at the Cabin the night before) and preceded to kick down a lot of ice on them. There are few spots in the gully protected from ice fall, so Paul and I were being extra careful to avoid sending ice down on top of them. This soloist was not being so careful. He arrived at our anchor just as I was finishing the 3rd pitch, and decided to climb past Paul as he was about to leave the anchor. He also managed to kick only about 8 inches from our screw anchor, causing several fractures and severely weakening the anchor. It was a serious breach of climbing etiquette and created a dangerous situation for everyone else in the gully. He's lucky Paul was in a good mood or he'd have been on the receiving end of an ice tool lobotomy.
Paul finishing the 3rd pitch of Pinnacle Gully
The top of Pinnacle Gully with Wildcat Ski Area in the background
Photo: Paul Kaster
Heading toward the rim of the Ravine from the top of the Pinnacle.
Once we crested the Ravine and reached the Alpine Garden, the winds picked up. We headed across the Garden on our way to South Gully to descend. Looking down South Gully, we made the decision to descend the Escape Hatch instead, a slightly easier gully just to the East. It turned out to be a horrible decision...
Paul in the Alpine Garden
Starting the descent down Escape Hatch, beginning to realize that we were in for one hell of a bushwack.
Photo: Paul Kaster
Downclimbing Escape Hatch.
Photo: Paul Kaster
As we descended, the trees got tighter and tighter. Eventually we found ourselves battling through them, as we sunk up to our crotch in soft snow. The going was slow.
Getting tighter...
Photo: Paul Kaster
Can you spot the climber?
The struggle was real...
...and I didn't fare any better
We finally made it back to the Huntington Ravine Trail absolutely thrashed, about four hours after we topped out on Pinnacle Gully. Neither of us had the energy or motivation to climb another gully, so we retreated back to the Cabin with our tails between our legs.
That night, the Cabin was even more full. Somehow we managed to fit 20 tired, smelly climbers in that dark, dank building. Luckily I was so knackered that I was able to fall asleep quickly after dinner, probably about 7:45pm.
Finally back on terra (somewhat) firma
March 13th, 2016
Since we still had time and there were still climbs up there in good condition, we headed back up on Sunday. This time we were planning to climb Odell's Gully, descend South Gully, and then climb Central Gully. Once again, the mountain had other plans for us. Despite bluebird skies, the winds in the Ravine were approaching 70mph. The gusts were strong enough to blow us over while we were sitting down. We debated climbing even in such conditions (training for the Alaska Range, remember?) However the base of Odell's Gully had become a shooting gallery, as falling ice was getting whipped down the gully by the wind. Golf ball to baseball sized chunks of ice whipped past us at nearly 70mph and we decided cheeseburgers were the better part of valor (thanks to Paul for that line), so we headed down.
Base of Huntington Ravine at sunrise
Retracing our steps from the previous day, toward Odell's Gully this time
Sunrise over Wildcat Ski Area
Roped up and climbing toward the base of Odell's Gully
After we decided to bail, we passed a lot of climbers heading into the Ravine. We told them of the conditions we encountered, but everyone gave us the typical answer of "gonna go up and check things out". If they found stuff to climb within their comfort zone, good on 'em.
We returned to the Harvard Cabin and ate the rest of our food, then packed our bags. We were nervous about the descent with our heavy packs, especially skiing the Sherburne Trail. We skinned back to Hojos and took a deep breath before launching down the Sherburne. It turns out that was a disaster. The Sherburne was more ice than snow, and it was nearly impossible with our awful packs. It was probably possible for good East Coast skiers with lighter packs once the ice had turned to slush, but in my opinion it's not worth it. Better to hike down the TRT with microspikes. We traversed over to the TRT at the first opportunity and booted it down with microspikes. Still kinda miserable with our packs, but much less dangerous.
Headed toward the Sherburne Ski Trail
Understanding the gravity of our situation
A typical section along the Sherburne
Wrestling with a pack that's well over a third of my bodyweight.
Photo: Paul Kaster
It's so nice having all this expensive, lightweight stuff so we can carry 60lbs of it at once.
I think we managed to make the best of some poor conditions and still have a worthwhile trip. It would have been awesome if we were able to climb more than one gully (something I've often done as a day trip from my house with light daypacks), but I don't regret any of the decisions we made. At the time, descending Escape Hatch rather than South Gully seemed very reasonable. Perhaps we were a little conservative with our decision to bail on Odell's Gully on Sunday, but I wasn't looking forward to getting hit with a major league baseball pitch. Here's to next season, and whatever's left of this one!
