Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

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MoapaPk

 
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Re: Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

by MoapaPk » Sat Jan 22, 2011 2:14 am

Vitaliy M wrote:"By some freak fluke of chance I made it back."

Was the trail covered up or something? : D


Ah, Grasshopper, you have yet to learn how dangerous an "easy" NE mountain becomes in winter. Trail? Surely you jest. You can't find the trail, under 6' of snow.

My 2nd time up Gothics in winter, I was accompanied by a fellow who had climbed McKinley twice. He nearly shat his pants, when he discovered that we had 3' of loose powder on top of ice... and no harnesses.

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Re: Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

by MoapaPk » Sat Jan 22, 2011 2:18 am

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:Back in the day before there were satellites were used a compass and common sense.


I walked 12 miles to school each day through snow, summer and winter, uphill both ways.

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Re: Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

by MoapaPk » Sat Jan 22, 2011 3:40 am

anita wrote:and I'm not singling anyone out


You're singling me out! I'm gonna cry! I need a hug.

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Re: Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

by nartreb » Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:46 pm

The big concrete building with the cafeteria in it, a.k.a. Sherman Adams Summit Building. Photo about halfway down this page:

http://www.ericpinder.com/html/celsius.html

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Re: Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

by rasgoat » Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:42 pm

Where's the dam Trip Report!

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Re: Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

by MoapaPk » Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:07 am

Vitaliy M wrote:Climbing on McKineley twice doesn't make you a superman. Most people go guided, and take the easiest route. BFD...
You discovered 3ft of snow over ice on the way up, or down?
I don't think the fellow would appreciate you talking about him like that.


I don't think he would mind at all, since "shat his pants" was his expression. He climbed Mt McKinley twice before 1973, when he was a teenager

The steep section on Gothics was short -- only about 700' vertical. The conditions were about the same going up, as down. His group was ahead of me, since I had to escort some folks back down, and went solo to the summit. The folks ahead of me had chopped some steps in the exposed ice. Powder on ice was generally more dangerous.

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Re: Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

by AlexeyD » Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:50 pm

MoapaPk wrote:The steep section on Gothics was short -- only about 700' vertical. The conditions were about the same going up, as down. His group was ahead of me, since I had to escort some folks back down, and went solo to the summit. The folks ahead of me had chopped some steps in the exposed ice. Powder on ice was generally more dangerous.


Are you talking about the slabs on the cable route?

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Re: Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

by MoapaPk » Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:57 pm

AlexeyD wrote:
MoapaPk wrote:The steep section on Gothics was short -- only about 700' vertical. The conditions were about the same going up, as down. His group was ahead of me, since I had to escort some folks back down, and went solo to the summit. The folks ahead of me had chopped some steps in the exposed ice. Powder on ice was generally more dangerous.


Are you talking about the slabs on the cable route?


Yes. The cables were under several feet of hardpack, of course; even the krumholz was mostly buried; but there were sections with just ice. 1974.

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Re: Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

by MoapaPk » Tue Jan 25, 2011 5:31 pm

Vitaliy M wrote:
MoapaPk wrote:
Vitaliy M wrote:
Your point is that one could find some sketchy routes under certain conditions on the east coast? I understand that, but it has nothing to do with my sarcastic comment about trail getting covered up.


The special conditions are called "winter." ;^)

No sweat. Kristoria has had a lot of time to think since she started the thread, and she clearly learned a lot. She took comments to heart and changed her behavior. At this point, there seems to be little benefit in making her defensive and hesitant to elaborate.

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Re: Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

by nartreb » Thu Jan 27, 2011 2:01 pm

Yury wrote:
nartreb wrote:The big concrete building with the cafeteria in it, a.k.a. Sherman Adams Summit Building.
Is this building open or closed in winter?


Closed. As you can see in the photo, the sign-in board is on the outside of the building. If you know the summit, you'll recognize the photo as showing the arcade by the Cog Railway terminal, at the Adams building main entrance.

All the summit buildings are officially closed in winter. The Obs folks will be inside (the opposite end of) the Adams building, but taking in strays is not their job. Nearest unlocked shelter is the basement of the Lakes hut, but, as already alluded to in this thread, going up with a plan of hoping to find an emergency shelter is not much of a plan.

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Re: Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

by MoapaPk » Fri Feb 04, 2011 8:42 pm

Good on ya! The sleep deprivation alone would kill me.

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Hotoven

 
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Re: Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

by Hotoven » Tue Feb 08, 2011 2:38 pm

So I know I'm late here on this, but it looks like she deleted her account here on SP. Way to go guys, I wouldn't expect nothing less.

Take joy in other peoples accomplishments, whether they are full hearty or very simple and easy. To much judgment here if you ask me.
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MoapaPk

 
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Re: Mt. Washington whiteout navigation plan

by MoapaPk » Tue Feb 08, 2011 3:23 pm

It is strange to have this thread without her side of the messages.

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