An Unusual Day On Mount Washington

By Patrick Gensel

The alarm began to blare at 5:15 am and I sat up almost instantly with an anxious grin, not unlike a child on Christmas morning. This was my Christmas morning. after nearly a month of planning and studying routes and weather, the day was finally here, I was going to climb Mount Washington.

Now when you look at Washington from an elevation scale the 6,288 foot mountain does not stand out as much of an accomplishment when compared to some of the peaks of the western states, but do not let that deceive you. What makes Mount Washington so unique is that it happens to lie right at a convergence point for 3 major storm tracks and poses the only obstacle between these tracks and the Atlantic. This as you may have thought makes for some pretty extraordinary and unpredictable weather. The peak has be coined “The home of the worlds worst weather”, and rightly so considering that in April of 1934 the highest surface wind speed on earth was recorded at 231 mph. another pretty solid reason that this mountain is so fasicating is that is said to have a Subarctic climate.

After about 30 minutes of layering and preparation my friend John and I made our way to Pinkham Notch where we enjoyed a tasty breakfast buffet before setting out. the temperature was a brisk 5°F and it the sun was just beginning to be fully visible when we started up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail located behind the Pinkham Notch visitors center. layered in Polypropylene base layers fleece and a winter shell we began the 4.5 mile accent that would take us Along the Tuckerman Ravine Trail and Lions Head Trail. For the first 45 minutes of our excursion we sailed along at a steady pace while keeping warm, but not too warm, but within ten minutes of the sun clearing its last obstruction, the layers began to come off.

By the 9am I was down to my base layer and a fleece vest, It was certainly turning out to be a beautiful day. As we made our way up the trail we came in contact with many teams with the same goal in mind: The summit, and with the way the weather was playing out this morning that did not seem anywhere near unattainable. All the people we caught up with or passed always seemed to extend a friendly hello, which added a great deal to this experience.

At around 10am we arrived at the beginning of the Lions head trail where a group of people were preparing for the next part of the ascent. Some where Donning there Crampons, others putting on Avalanche Beacons, and some where just taking a break and enjoy the day. John and I dropped our Packs, pulled out our ice axes and put on our crampons. after a quick drink of water and an energy bar, we were ready.

The initial part of the Lions Head trail was not too challenging, it was a single track packed into the snow, wide enough for single file travel. I veered off the trail once or twice to find myself Calf deep in snow, but proptly corrected course. Within 15 minutes we reached the bottleneck of the trail which consisted of a 15 foot near vertical climbe which required a little front pointing with our crampons, and some ice axe work. after that it was fairly smooth sailing. once the trees started to thin out, It started to sink in that this was happening and my excitement raced. at around 4000 feet I caught a glimse of the beautiful White Mountains and the terrain that lie ahead. we proceeded up the trail and rounded a corner where I could see the Lions Head off in the distance high above the tree line, I knew that I soon would be leaving the shelter of the forrest and enter the barren land above the alpine line.

Within a half hour of my first glimpse of the Lions Head the trees began to thin and ultimately gave way to a seemingly endless sea of snow. At this point the trail all but disappeared only to be marked by the occasional stone cairn or team of mountaineers. the punchy snow crunching beneath my crampons was reminiscent of walking across Styrofoam, yet the warmth from the sun reminded me of a spring day, this perfect weather was not at all the norm on this mountain, and happened maybe once or twice a year. our timing for a summit day couldn’t have been any more perfect, if there is such a thing as luck, this was it.

An hour of Switchbacks across the sea of snow gave way to the large rock out cropping known as the Lions Head. once we reached the Top of the Lions Head we were offered our first Clear view of Both Tuckerman Ravine and The Summit cone, which looked deceivingly close. I turned my head to the left to see a team of mountaineers working the ridge that would ultimately route them to the summit and was surprised at how far away they actually were. It is quite humbling how that a snow covered mountain can really mess with perception of depth and size, and now fully understand how someone can get lost on a snowfield.

At around 1pm we arrived at the point where The Lions Head meets back up with the Tuckerman Ravine Trail and begins its final push up the Summit Cone. I recall as we worked our way up the slopes of the summit cone people cheering us on as they made there way back down after there successful ascent. Positive motivating comments came from every passing mountaineer helping me to push my burning calves to the limit. we finally crested the last ridge and the building of the Observatory came into view, and with that view, also came the cold and the wind. though it was not as windy as it commonly is, the 45 mile per hour wind was enough to chill the air to nearly negative temperatures. everything was covered in a thick coat of rime ice, a brittle wind blown fusion of ice and snow. To me the Summit of Mount Washington in the dead of winter is how I imagine Antarctica, and it felt like it too.

At Approximately 1:40pm January 23rd 2010 we had reached the summit of Mount Washington, the roof of New England, and it felt great. We promptly made our way over to the sign that marked the true summit, and snapped a picture for a couple before posing for a few snapshots and some video with the sign. the top of the mountain was teeming with life, with people from all over the world, there was even a couple with a pair of huskies that posed with them for a photo at the sign, it really was a perspective changing experience. we originally intended on eating our lunch on the summit, but there wasn’t much to keep shielded from the wind and in the interest of keeping warm and our stove lit, we decided to begin our decent.

after a much quicker decent down the summit ridge, and much encouragement to the teams making there summit push, we arrived back at the Lions Head. Thanks to a Technique called a Glissade where you essentially ski without ski’s, we made it back to Lions Head in less than half the time it took to get from there to the top.

Now Shielded by the wind at Lions Head we decided that it was now time for our first real break since starting early that morning. the rest, and a warm meal did wonders for our energy levels, and we also shared stories of the day with fellow mountaineers resting at the Lions Head. After Snapping a few photos and reorganizing our equipment we started our final decent back down into the forest below. the rest of the decent was made quite quickly by employing a sitting Glissade and the use of our ice axes as brakes. The entire Lions Head trail was like a mountain sized snow slide. after about an hour of sliding we made it back to where we could slide no more, and at around 5pm we arrived safely back at the Pinkham Notch Visitors center.

This day was a wonderful experience, and my first real mountaineering experience. I highly encourage anyone with a desire to climb mountains to check out Mount Washington, but definitely plan ahead, and check the weather often due to the highly unpredictable conditions found here. Mountwashington.org is and indispensable resource for mountain conditions and general information, and as alway you can send your questions to Patrick@campthesummit.com

More Photos from my trip can be Found on my Flickr Page