Went up Sugarloaf. Attempted to find AT to go to Spaulding, but it was not easily found and the snow was WAY too deep to traverse anyway. If your hiking in this area, wait for the snow to pack unless it's pre-packed (think "ski slope"). I got there at 6:30, the base lodge was open for a bathroom. I was at the summit at 9:30 and down by 11:30 (these times are approximate, but close). The summit was really windy (Probably -10 with 40 MPH wind, so -43 with the wind-chill), the building up there was open but unheated; still nice to get out of the cold.
Sugarloaf proved to be a great proving/testing ground, since I'm fairly new to this winter hiking stuff. The staff are nice, never gave me any trouble, and were sort of curious. It's a fairly easy climb, and if you happened *ahem* to be wearing xc ski boots *ahem* and your feet get cold on the way up, because you thought they'd be insulated enough, you can stop at a lift shack to put heaters on your feat and thaw out your numb, frost bitten toes...
----------------------------------Equipment------------------------------
Anyway, as far as equipment:
I'm 200 pounds and I found that 25" MSR Lightning Ascent snow shoes are not big enough to support me on very loose snow... I don't think anything could have though, and they worked great snow that was thinner/more packed down. I also found that when it got too steep (I went up Hayburner, if you're familiar, and it wasn't groomed) the snow shoes really didn't grip in as much as I would have liked, and progress would be slow.
I used Grivel 10 point adjustable crampons on the way down, they worked really well, I really like them, and the anti-bolling on them works great.
The xc-skis were just in case, because I was hoping I could get in through the snow, so it was an emergency egress technique if it got too late. Big mistake, they're heavy, and worthless on anything but flat ground. I tried them at the summit, just around a little bit, and it just wasn't happening on anything but smooth, non-icy surfaces.
I brought a camelback. It froze. I'd been warned. I was able to use it for about 2 1/2 hours by blowing the water back into the bag and thawing the mouth piece out when I needed it, but eventually it was hopeless.
I used a Gregory bag, I think the Baltoro 70. Great bag, held the skis on the sides, the snow shoes on the back, the crampons on the bottom... And it's sturdy as hell! The only problem is that if you have the skis on the side, you can't have a water bottle (hence the camelback) in the nalgene holder.
For a base layer I used the techwick stuff from EMS. It's comfortable, and seems to work well as a base layer.
I got stuck in snow trying to find the AT, and one of the poles I was using broke when I was trying to lift myself out (I had the crampons on at the time). I'm not sure the exact name of the pole, but it was from LL Bean from the mid-90's, said made in Austria. Folded right in half...
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Overall, a fun climb, good learning experience.
Sugarloaf proved to be a great proving/testing ground, since I'm fairly new to this winter hiking stuff. The staff are nice, never gave me any trouble, and were sort of curious. It's a fairly easy climb, and if you happened *ahem* to be wearing xc ski boots *ahem* and your feet get cold on the way up, because you thought they'd be insulated enough, you can stop at a lift shack to put heaters on your feat and thaw out your numb, frost bitten toes...
----------------------------------Equipment------------------------------
Anyway, as far as equipment:
I'm 200 pounds and I found that 25" MSR Lightning Ascent snow shoes are not big enough to support me on very loose snow... I don't think anything could have though, and they worked great snow that was thinner/more packed down. I also found that when it got too steep (I went up Hayburner, if you're familiar, and it wasn't groomed) the snow shoes really didn't grip in as much as I would have liked, and progress would be slow.
I used Grivel 10 point adjustable crampons on the way down, they worked really well, I really like them, and the anti-bolling on them works great.
The xc-skis were just in case, because I was hoping I could get in through the snow, so it was an emergency egress technique if it got too late. Big mistake, they're heavy, and worthless on anything but flat ground. I tried them at the summit, just around a little bit, and it just wasn't happening on anything but smooth, non-icy surfaces.
I brought a camelback. It froze. I'd been warned. I was able to use it for about 2 1/2 hours by blowing the water back into the bag and thawing the mouth piece out when I needed it, but eventually it was hopeless.
I used a Gregory bag, I think the Baltoro 70. Great bag, held the skis on the sides, the snow shoes on the back, the crampons on the bottom... And it's sturdy as hell! The only problem is that if you have the skis on the side, you can't have a water bottle (hence the camelback) in the nalgene holder.
For a base layer I used the techwick stuff from EMS. It's comfortable, and seems to work well as a base layer.
I got stuck in snow trying to find the AT, and one of the poles I was using broke when I was trying to lift myself out (I had the crampons on at the time). I'm not sure the exact name of the pole, but it was from LL Bean from the mid-90's, said made in Austria. Folded right in half...
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Overall, a fun climb, good learning experience.
