New England 67 in 1 winter season

Bombadil said:

Arm and I met him late Sunday afternoon on Franconia Ridge.

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TFW plus a Franconia Ridge > Kinsmans Cannon loop could be a long day if conditions are tough ... Richard seemed to be in good spirits when we crossed paths near Liberty ...

congrats to Patrick on wrapping up the White Mountain grid on Lafayette sunday

arm said:

congrats to Patrick on wrapping up the White Mountain grid on Lafayette sunday

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a very humble fellow- Congratulations!

Bombadil said:

Arm and I met him late Sunday afternoon on Franconia Ridge

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Wow I didn't realise it was you! I was aware of your incredible SS-NEHH and when Arm mentioned it, I didn't catch the SS part or was too sleep deprived to connect the dots I'm pretty sure the NEHH is a much harder goal! Thanks for the tips at the time, it gave me confidence to jump down the Flume Slide.

Tahoma said:

I know everyone likes to stress how hard the NH 48 are, but honestly, I think doing the Maine 14 is harder

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It's winter and harder really depends on weather conditions. The Carrabassett 6 was one of my hardest hike ever, but I've been turned down every weekend by floods, winds, injury or stuck car on other "easier" hikes. Nothing can be taken for granted, especially if winter gets random. Too bad you couldn't make it for Baxter, but invitation is still open if you want to come this weekend.

DMOutdoors said:

My solo Baxter and North Brother hikes felt like lifetime adventures in their own right.

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You took the long way for your Baxters!

I've stumbled on DMOutdoors's blog after getting blocked by 100mph winds on Lafayette, was really devastated and thought the SSW115 was over. But reading his SSW67 and all his troubles got me motivated again and his spreadsheet really helped me plan the other mountains. He also got me into sledding with his cool videos

About the SSW48, I have done 41 of them in 5 different days of hiking and many were a first. Timed well, in team, better car spots, sledding strategically and without major setbacks they could be done much faster. Also with all the traffic they get nowadays, more snow would make the W48 safer and easier than before. Although it would make Baxter and Maine much harder.

I've still got 12 peaks to go in the Catskills (2), Baxter (3) and Whites (7). Just learned that winter ends on the 19th, so not too sure how it will go. It will be very hard and nothing is guaranteed.

rich99 said:

Wow I didn't realise it was you! I was aware of your incredible SS-NEHH and when Arm mentioned it, I didn't catch the SS part or was too sleep deprived to connect the dots I'm pretty sure the NEHH is a much harder goal! Thanks for the tips at the time, it gave me confidence to jump down the Flume Slide.


It's winter and harder really depends on weather conditions. The Carrabassett 6 was one of my hardest hike ever, but I've been turned down every weekend by floods, winds, injury or stuck car on other "easier" hikes. Nothing can be taken for granted, especially if winter gets random. Too bad you couldn't make it for Baxter, but invitation is still open if you want to come this weekend.

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You are going this weekend?! I will be on my way up tomorrow night. I think we are alseeping in the car and then heading to ABol first thing in the morning.Whats your plan?

*Agreed, this year's CV6 provided a MASSIVE challenge for me this winter. Honestly, Ive never climbed them in winter when they HAVENT! The day on the Crockers and Red was the hardest though. Deep undermined snow, covered with a weak layer of crust made for some HEINOUS snowshoeing. Almost broke me a couple times.

Jason Beaupre finished his SSW 67 Tuesday on Mount Katahdin.



Tim

Tahoma said:

You are going this weekend?! I will be on my way up tomorrow night. I think we are alseeping in the car and then heading to ABol first thing in the morning.Whats your plan?

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We leave saturday 3am from Abol Parking, summit Katahdin and Hamlin via Abol slide, walk the tote road, bivy at Foster Field or Slide Dam and head early for North Brother taking the Marston trail. If we feel good and there is time, we'll do Fort to Coe and descend the OJI. 45 miles total, not sure if there's a faster way.

It was great to see you out there Rich! Hopefully you managed to get on top of all of them as planned.

I however am sadly still 1 peak away from SSW67...North Brother remains untagged as we were evicted from the park for illegal camping inside the boundary. Long story, many moving parts, we had very good reason and even tried to pay at HQ and with a ranger in the park as a back up and were still told to leave...Hope to get back up there Sat on the final day of winter! Clock is ticking.

bikehikeskifish said:

Jason Beaupre finished his SSW 67 Tuesday on Mount Katahdin.



Tim

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Congratulations to Jason! If that was this past Tues he now also holds the FKT for SSW67 and is only the 7th known person to do it. Rich should finish the NH peaks this week I believe and be number 8 and if I can manage to squeeze on to NB before Sunday at 1230am I'd make 9.

Tahoma said:

It was great to see you out there Rich! Hopefully you managed to get on top of all of them as planned.

I however am sadly still 1 peak away from SSW67...North Brother remains untagged as we were evicted from the park for illegal camping inside the boundary. Long story, many moving parts, we had very good reason and even tried to pay at HQ and with a ranger in the park as a back up and were still told to leave...Hope to get back up there Sat on the final day of winter! Clock is ticking.

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Glad to have met you too! That's a huge bummer for North Brother, you could have been done with it, really hope you can summit in time. I got scared of getting kicked out too after hearing your story. We did have a tent spot reservation, but my friend wanted to do it in a single push and head to the whites Sunday. So I told the ranger our change of plan. Then after summiting Katahdin and Hamlin, he didn't feel he could continue and I was very sleep deprived. I didn't want to risk it if they didn't want to let us change plan again, so I went solo anyways. Going to Martson trailhead I realized they wouldn't like this either, not having a solo permit, but it was dark and didn't cross anyone. Now it's done. Wish it were simpler and we did document everything in the registers.

Good luck!!

Awesome Rich! Glad you didnt get hung up but with the tent reservation they wouldnt come looking since they expected you to be in the park.

Let me know when you finish up NH!

I would hope that those of you who are pursuing aggressive peakbagging goals will respect the rules of Baxter State Park, and the other places that you visit. It is my impression that the BSP Authority has loosened up its once notoriously strict red tape in recent years. It would be unfortunate if you gave your fellow peakbaggers a bad name & the policies became more strict as a result. BSP has enough on its hands with the AT thru-hikers.

TEO, we've learned from our mistakes. Our intent was not to break park rules and I don't even know if we did, I will call them. Next time we'll discuss with them how to change plan in case things don't go as planned like it just did and we'll all get solo permits if necessary. Trying to peakbag so late in the season wasn't a good idea either. We expect to get back soon for a proper exploration of the park, it was an amazing adventure.

TEO said:

I would hope that those of you who are pursuing aggressive peakbagging goals will respect the rules of Baxter State Park, and the other places that you visit. It is my impression that the BSP Authority has loosened up its once notoriously strict red tape in recent years. It would be unfortunate if you gave your fellow peakbaggers a bad name & the policies became more strict as a result. BSP has enough on its hands with the AT thru-hikers.

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Teo,
I have visited the park many times. I have always followed every rule they put forward. Im a firm believer in respecting the mountains and those who help to maintain them for us to enjoy.
With that being said, sometimes in the interest of safety plans change and rules need to be bent if not some times broken. In our case it was dark, my partner was very tired and not a good skier and the steep road from Abol CG was very icy. We tried to change our day rez to an overnight as a backup plan, 4 days in advance but the park HQ said it couldnt be officially done due to lack of 7 business days. They did however take my CC number down and told me "if you need to stay in the park then do so to be safe and just call HQ on Mon and we will charge your card."
I also ran into the CP ranger at the summit and tried to pay him that day, make a rez as a back up and was told the same thing.
Respectfully, your post seems to imply that anyone who has to step outside the rules at times is like a pack of 22 yr olds who snuck into the park and were caught having a fire and drinking beers. Ask questions first and then you can save your "hopes" for the ones that need it.

Happy to say I made it! Finished North Brother yesterday afternoon for the SSW67. Incredible day to wrap it all up as they had fresh snow covering everything.

Happy to say I spoke with Rich also and he finished the first SSW115! Pretty awesome!

So by what Ive researched the list is now at 10; This season added Jason, George, Rich and Myself (Jesse). I have yet to confirm George's start date but as of now Jason B has the FKT at 78 days.

So happy for you, Tahoma, and Rich!

Congratulations!

Jesse & Rich - Congratulations to you both on this incredible accomplishment!

Bravo Zulu !!

Tahoma said:

Happy to say I made it! Finished North Brother yesterday afternoon for the SSW67. Incredible day to wrap it all up as they had fresh snow covering everything.

Happy to say I spoke with Rich also and he finished the first SSW115! Pretty awesome!

So by what Ive researched the list is now at 10; This season added Jason, George, Rich and Myself (Jesse). I have yet to confirm George's start date but as of now Jason B has the FKT at 78 days.

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Awesome job guys, congrats!!

Tahoma said:

Happy to say I spoke with Rich also and he finished the first SSW115! Pretty awesome!

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Amazing accomplishments, all of you, but this one is astounding!

I don't know if I was the first, but after JoeCedar did a combined SSW46 and SSW48 a few years ago, I tossed out the idea that someone would soon do a SSW115, and now it is in the books. As a matter of fact, Rich also did MacNaughton (aka the 47th 46'er ), so one could call it the SSW116!

Thanks everyone, it was a fun journey. Finishing the ssw67 was just a by product of all the fun!
Rich's 116 is truly outstanding. I know he also added a few of the NEHH while out doing the 116. Talk about a guy who was having fun!

For those interested in the ssw67 list it now stands at 10, we had 4 finishers this winter! George B, Jason B, myself and Rich H.


The happiest celebration for me is that this past sunday I celebrated 1 year since I destroyed my ankle in an ice climbing accident. This project, for me, was symbolic of not letting injury take my life away from me but instead finding new joy in the power of the human will and passion for the mountains.