Mt Washington... again :D 1/28

[cbcbd]

Date: 1/28

Trails:Tuckermans, Huntington, Nelson Crag, Lion's Head, Sherburne

Mountains:Washington

Special Equipment: You know... winter stuff.

Plan: Take skis, go up something in Huntington, check out East snowfields skiing conditions (maybe ski something), head back on Sherburne (thought about skiing in Tux... but not this time).


So...
Woke up in my car to covered windows... got real close and realized it was snow!! Opened the door... snowing and about 2" of the stuff on the ground at Pinkham Notch.

Felt real lazy, and with plans of leaving by 7am, left at 8:15.

The going up Tux was easy, lots of packed powder, not much ice... made it to
the Huntington trail shortly after 9.

Still a little foggy, the new snow had been broken by the people that day, including some guides with clients heading into Pinnacle.

The snow was powdery, very dry and powdery...
A guy and a girl were waiting at the base of Pinnacle to start their climb. I got all my stuff together next to them while we chatted, I put on crampons, put poles away, took out tools. I had considered going up Pinnacle, which didn't look too bad... but the skis on my back were kind of heavy, and since there was a group on the route already and another set to go I didn't want to be a jackass, pass them, and shower ice on them... I decided I'd be just fine with central.

...and central looked to be enough of a challenge today with all the new untracked snow.

Then it began... I think I spent about 2-2 1/2 hours on the gully... with the 3"-1' 1/2 powder, step kicking was time consuming and my axe plunging belays really would've done nothing for me if I actually fell (especially with shorter ice tools) - like I said... dry, dry powder.

Got to the ice bulge, probably one of the steepest sections of the gully, and now the snow was inches thick and I could place my tools well into the ice. That ice bulge section is something else!

Two guys had caught up to me right before the bulge... but after I passed it I never saw them again... I guess they bailed out or weren't impressed with my Zs

Now, the scary part... some ways up from the bulge I place my right tool in the snow and make a fracture line in the snow that goes all the way to the right side of the gully
I start to move slowly up past it and about 10' up from me another fracture line forms and the whole face starts moving down in front of me. My heart stops for a second, but thankfully the new snow wasn't too deep (~3") and the sluff just piles onto my chest or past me down the gully. Had me kind of nervous there, but wow, what a view!

Continued heading up more cautiously now towards the right side... avoiding the other fracture lines and mini slabs still intact. Passed the bomber anchor and exited off a chute to the left that gave some interesting climbing.

Topped out between 1-1:30... took a break, took crampons off, put axes away, ate, drank, enjoyed the views... and pondered if I should just call it a day, head back down Lion's or head to the summit. The snow on the cone wasn't too much and I didn't feel motivated to prep up to ski any of it... plus, now time wasn't on my side if I wanted to summit.

So, I decided to head for the summit - it was such a gorgeous day... I couldn't pass it up... but fast, so I could be on my skis on the Sherburne at least before 5pm.

Headed up towards Nelson Crag and soon had the summit in view.

Got there around 2:45... did the self pic thing as proof... waiting for two guys to arrive on the summit, offered to take their pic and started heading down at around 3.

Just a little down from the parking lot a girl was coming up... she still had 15-20 minutes to go... I stopped and said hi and how long she had to go. She asked me sort of airy, "Is there any shop or store open up there?"

Well, I really hope she was joking, although it didn't seem that way. I told her there was nothing open that you could go inside up there. She looked pretty ready and had enough winter gear that I figured it was odd she wouldn't know a simple piece of Wash info like that. She had to be hiking out in the dark...

Anyway... I booked down the Lion's head ... boot skiing most of the way down (tons of snow). Made it from summit to HoJos in 45 minutes, getting there at 3:45pm.. perfect!!

Talked to some guys at HoJos about the snow, the girl, and other life interests, took a pic of Tux headwall, and headed to the Sherb to set up for skiing down.

I was beat and my legs were not in the mood for carving turns. I was stopping to rest a lot and it had been a long day... but man, nothing beats getting down to Pinkham in less than 30 minutes!!

I am seriously considering taking my skis whenever heading up that area and stashing them around Hermit Lake, just so I can ski down

Great day... now I want to ski Central Gully... the snow was perfect... but my mind, eh, wasn't

Doug

 

[MichaelJ]

Wow, Doug, that's the most fascinating trip report I've ever read for Washington. What a way to do it ... nice! That slope in Huntington doesn't look like a place for the faint-of-heart; I'm glad it was only 3" of snow that came down on you.

 

[percious]

Nice report as usual. Great way to integrate your pictures into the report.

cheers.

-percious

 

[DougPaul]

Great day... now I want to ski Central Gully... the snow was perfect... but my mind, eh, wasn't

With or without the avy slabs?

Doug

 

[Mongoose]

Nice report and nice photos. The ice bulge can be exciting when you're not tied in, and that fracture line must have been something to see in front of you. This is a fun trip I need to do again soon.

 

[Chip]

I knew you had more fun than us !
Nice report !

 

[albee]

Wow, awesome TR. With all the pictures I really felt like I was there with you! How was the wind up there?

Nice job capturing all the different perspectives along the way up. I was looking across at Huntington's from Wildcat D on Sunday and it looked a lot longer and steeper than when I was actually up there climbing it in 11/05. Has it gotten bigger?

 

[Abster]

Wow!

Pretty impressive stuff Doug Are you sure you shouldn't live out West, Nepal or something....that's where it looks like you were anyway. I'm so glad we have such versatile terrain in the NE!

You mentioned a guide was taking a group up Huntington. Do you know where the guide was out of? I would like to do a day or two up there to try out some of this type of thing.....way mellowed out in terms of your trips.

I'd appreciate any guide companies if you know them.

Stay safe! (and keep posting!)

Hanna

 

[bubba]

Nice job!! Okay, you proved that you are the Man of the Day!! (well, at least at Pinham Notch, NH) We were over here dealing with avalanches!!

The trail up looked great. The gully is sweet and I wish I'd been there. Topping out... summit? - chute? - summit? - chute? Tough decision... Did the fracture weigh in on the decision??

I am seriously considering taking my skis whenever heading up that area and stashing them around Hermit Lake, just so I can ski down

I've done that when we were up and down for a few days. Someone just posted on another thread that coming down should be fun!!

I didn't want to be a jackass...

Those Pinnacle folks apprieciate that one!!

Keep up the fun and TR's -- they rock!!

 

[--M.]

Great narrative thread, great photos! Those snow fractures look pretty heart-stopping!

 

[Mike P.]

great report!

 

[lattinhill]

Hey Doug..great hike, awesome report and photos as always!

Dave

 

[chinooktrail]

Hi Doug,
Sounds like you had a wicked day!
Forgive my ignorance on ice climbing, or even climbing where 'tools' are required beyond crampons, but when you are talking about the fracture, does that mean the whole face could have come down, as in an avalanche?
You must have had a great shot of adrenaline from that!
Great TR, oh, and thanks for making us mere mortals feel like slugs!
Have fun and be safe!

 

[giggy]

Great report Doug, I love that gully.

 

[cbcbd]

With or without the avy slabs?

The question would be... depends on how big of a slab?

I knew you had more fun than us !
Nice report !

I've been wanting to do more BC skiing and combining all my interests into one day... I have to admit I almost headed to Cannon that day and repeated your trip

How was the wind up there?

Nice job capturing all the different perspectives along the way up. I was looking across at Huntington's from Wildcat D on Sunday and it looked a lot longer and steeper than when I was actually up there climbing it in 11/05. Has it gotten bigger?

It was windy, but nothing that really took you off balance. It was really perfect - just enough wind to ventilate my goggles

It gets bigger every time I'm on it!

Are you sure you shouldn't live out West, Nepal or something....that's where it looks like you were anyway. I'm so glad we have such versatile terrain in the NE!

You mentioned a guide was taking a group up Huntington. Do you know where the guide was out of? I would like to do a day or two up there to try out some of this type of thing.....way mellowed out in terms of your trips.

I'd appreciate any guide companies if you know them.

Hey Hanna! Don't tempt me with the West... I might just... anyway, the NE has my attention for now... plenty of funky terrain to tackle

The sign in register in the Pack room at Pinkham showed that some guides from IMCS were going up to Pinnacle. There are tons of good guides in the area to choose from: IMCS, EMS climbing school, Chauvin Guides, Mooney Mountain Guides, and the list goes on... If you are looking to go into a gully, keep your eye out here - someone might be heading up into the gullies anyway and will help you out.

The trail up looked great. The gully is sweet and I wish I'd been there. Topping out... summit? - chute? - summit? - chute? Tough decision... Did the fracture weigh in on the decision??

The fracture sealed the deal, but since I wasn't that confident in my skiing over the ice bulge intact I passed on that. As for Tux... I didn't want to ski down anything that I hadn't hiked up and checked out that day - but I bet the powder was as fresh over there

Forgive my ignorance on ice climbing, or even climbing where 'tools' are required beyond crampons, but when you are talking about the fracture, does that mean the whole face could have come down, as in an avalanche?
You must have had a great shot of adrenaline from that!

Hey Christine, did you guys get out on Passaconaway and Whiteface on Sat? I saw Lenny at EMS with some friends and he told me he was planning something up there.

As for the fracture... yeah, it's a slab avalanche, where if there is a weak layer between old snow and new snow (ie. old layer of snow, thin layer of ice, and new layer of snow) the new snow can break away forming a fracture line at the top and a slab of the new stuff comes down. Good thing for me the new snow was only ~3" thick and I was towards the top of the slab, so what hit me hadn't had time to build up speed and wasn't too big. The whole face didn't come down and you can see on one pic that some slabs that fractured above me stayed put after the first one went down - from there on I went to the right, where the slope got more convex and I could avoid the main chute. It was certainly a rush I won't forget

 

[Chip]

I've been wanting to do more BC skiing and combining all my interests into one day... I have to admit I almost headed to Cannon that day and repeated your trip

I'm skiing Wildcat via a hike up 19 Mile Brook and Carter Notch on Feb 18 or 19th, if you're in the 'hood.

 

[bubba]

I wasn't that confident in my skiing over the ice bulge intact

Wait... from your pictures and those that 7summits posted, it looks like you skirt the bulge. Do you have to go over it??

If so, doesn't that just add another dimension to the hike/ski?!?

 

[David Metsky]

If you don't mind my asking, how did you ascertain the avalanche risk? Did you dig pits before climbing? What was the rating listed at Pinkham?

-dave-

 

[cbcbd]

I'm skiing Wildcat via a hike up 19 Mile Brook and Carter Notch on Feb 18 or 19th, if you're in the 'hood.

Hmm... I might just be. I'll let you know.

Wait... from your pictures and those that 7summits posted, it looks like you skirt the bulge. Do you have to go over it??

If so, doesn't that just add another dimension to the hike/ski?!?

That big ice fall on the left you just go next to. But there is a bulgy part right next to it that you kind of have to go over, but it's not really vertical - prob 50 degrees?

If you don't mind my asking, how did you ascertain the avalanche risk? Did you dig pits before climbing? What was the rating listed at Pinkham?

-dave-

No, not at all. Avalanche safety training is a big gap that I feel the need to fill soon in my outdoor knowledge. Even though I read and study as much as I can on the subject I'm still lacking formal training... which I would really like to have.

So...
The weather report in the pack room was updated, but the Avy report was still from Sat - Tux was Moderate, Huntington was low. They had probably gotten about 2-3" of new snow overnight - at the parking lot I could see around 1-2" and assuming that the slab I set off was all that new snow then I would guess the 3" deep slab was part new snow and part wind loading.

My judgement came from:
I knew there hadn't been any significant new snow recently before that night, the report for Sat was low, and from what I saw the new snow was not a lot and it was a considerably non-windy day, and I saw that guides were heading into the ravine that day.
From those factors I decided I was comfortable with the personal risk I was taking in the ravine.

Also, I know I kid about the guys behind me bailing, but I was glad they dropped out since I really wouldn't want to have that sluff hitting them and possibly throwing them off balance. I was already feeling bad for kicking small pieces of snow that rolled down to them.

-Doug

 

[DougPaul]

That big ice fall on the left you just go next to. But there is a bulgy part right next to it that you kind of have to go over, but it's not really vertical - prob 50 degrees?

Also depends--some years its a pure snow climb. When I went up there in 1980(?), the ice bulge was most of the width of the gully. It could have been about 50 deg, don't remember accurately.

No, not at all. Avalanche safety training is a big gap that I feel the need to fill soon in my outdoor knowledge. Even though I read and study as much as I can on the subject I'm still lacking formal training... which I would really like to have.

That avy rather scared me. You were in a narrow gully--enough could have collected to knock you off. (Injuries from hitting the rocks below are not uncommon.)

So...
The weather report in the pack room was updated, but the Avy report was still from Sat - Tux was Moderate, Huntington was low. They had probably gotten about 2-3" of new snow overnight - at the parking lot I could see around 1-2" and assuming that the slab I set off was all that new snow then I would guess the 3" deep slab was part new snow and part wind loading.

Wouldn't take much wind to have it collect deeper in spots. And the snow was fresh (most avys happen during or within 24hrs of the snowfall).

My judgement came from:
I knew there hadn't been any significant new snow recently before that night, the report for Sat was low, and from what I saw the new snow was not a lot and it was a considerably non-windy day, and I saw that guides were heading into the ravine that day.
From those factors I decided I was comfortable with the personal risk I was taking in the ravine.

The guides may have known that conditions in Pinnacle would be different. The gullies' exposure to the wind is certainly different. (There is also a big slope above Pinnacle which could potentially avalanche, but I'm not sure if there is enough snow to cover the rocks up there yet.) I know that Odell (the next gully to the left) has avalanched at times.

Also, I know I kid about the guys behind me bailing, but I was glad they dropped out since I really wouldn't want to have that sluff hitting them and possibly throwing them off balance. I was already feeling bad for kicking small pieces of snow that rolled down to them.

I thought about them--the sluff/avy might have been moving pretty fast by the time it got down to them... Good thing they bailed. Following another party in a narrow gully has its hazzards.

Doug