KristoriaBlack wrote:Because I do promise you that the day will come when I will find myself on a mountain, in conditions such as these or worse, and when that day comes it will not be by choice. In a way this is a controlled environment in the sense that I have the opportunity to prepare myself in advanced. I will not always be that lucky. At least this way I can train myself psychologically not to be afraid and to deal with panic when faced with situations such as these.
KristoriaBlack wrote:And how would one survive the night if forced to bivy above treeline? My feeling would be to get the hell down below tree line, spend the night there and give her a fresh go in the morning light. Be prepared for an overnight stay. But what if one simply cannot descend and is forced to stay above tree line? Is it possible to survive the night in a bivy in a gale with enough warm gear or should the objective be to descend whatever the difficulty?
I think you need to climb to the top of Mt. Washington during the day during "normal" conditions and get an idea of what that mountain is all about. If you get caught up there when its bad (which you're trying to do intentionally), ESPECIALLY at night, you'll be lucky if you live to regret it. Here's a vid of the summit of Mt. Washington, fast-forward to about 4:55 (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im2t_6qpf9c) and then pretend that's you trying to thread your way downhill, at night, without falling into Tuck's or Ray's. Or better yet, setup a bivy? That mountain kills so many people precisely because they underestimate it.
I don't live very far from Mt. Washington, but I also do a lot of solo winter mountaineering out west. Purposely placing myself on Mt. Washington in those kinds of conditions for "practice" would reach a point of diminishing returns pretty quickly. The day when you find yourself with those conditions on the mountain? Unless you're hitting up Denali or the slopes of Everest I don't think, of all the things you could be training and practicing, that that should be at the top of your list. Perhaps work on your judgment first, when and when not to climb.