Ever had the feeling of so much
physical exhaustion, that you cannot even think of taking another step in a
comprehensible direction? Ever felt as if the very things you love doing punish
you for doing them over and over again? That feeling when wind literally howls through
your ears and the climb ahead looks forbiddingly at you while the mountain tries
to swat you off. Your body refuses to burn another calorie to help achieve what
you set out to achieve. But when you are the sole reason behind finding yourself
in this situation, there is really no one else to blame but yourself; and
pretty much nothing else to do but live through the moment and feel every inch of
your sparsely functioning body. That is when you mind takes over. Goads your
body on, to find energy from its deepest reserves. To take that one more step
every time you feel you cannot anymore. To keep pushing until you’ve achieved
what you set out to achieve. Mind over matter.
I experienced that, and more
than words can approximate - on the icy, rocky, snowy and precipitously steep
slopes of Mt. Washington in the White Mountains National Forest, New Hampshire.
The windiest place on face of our planet. No sweat. In all honesty, you have to be a little whacked out in the
head to put yourself in this situation. But dear reader, you don’t have to.
Read on to experience the journey to the summit... in my boots.
Mt. Washington – also known as Agiochochook by some Native
American tribes - apart from being the tallest peak in New England (6,288 ft)
is also known for its treacherous slopes, avalanches and bone piercing
windchill. The fastest wind recorded on the face of the planet clocked a
whopping 231 mph/ 372 kph on April 12, 1934. Despite all these intimidating
sounding facts and figures, it is still considered a mid-sized mountain owing
to the ability to literally drive up to the top during summers and climbing it
within a day during winters. It introduces curious climbers to the technicality
of winter hiking, as well as presents some stiff challenges with a mixture of
ice-boulder fields, technical three-point-of-contact ice climbs, and steep snow field ascents.
The Set Up
George Mallory (arguably the first mountaineer to climb Mt.
Everest) once famously remarked how he decided to climb Mt. Everest ‘because it’s
there’.
... that Cyanide and Happiness comic strip pretty much sums up why we put ourselves through so
much simply to stand atop a mountain (!). Ever since I found out about UCMC’s
(University of Cincinnati Mountaineering Club) annual expedition to Mt.
Washington in 2016, it has been a pipeline dream for me. Being my first foray
into winter hiking, to say that I will cherish every moment of hurt on this
ascent for the rest of my life; will be understating it. A trip like this has
many moving parts and with the kind of life most of us lead, just making trips
like these happen - take special efforts.
This is a shout out to everyone embroiled in the
clockwork-like process of working a full-time job and yet, can and do spare
time to do things that make them who they are as a person.
We all at some point have seen pictures of beautiful snowy
mountains, frozen waterfalls and the downright spectacular views shot from
mountaintops. It sends chills down the spine simply thinking about
how cold it could be. Experiencing it in person is a whole different ballgame.
You have to be prepared for the weather. Wearing the right layers of clothing,
proper footwear, headgear and mountaineering equipment and more importantly the
knowledge of its proper use is essential.
The book ‘Mountaineering- Freedom of the Hills’ is a veritable bible throughout the preparation process. It patiently lays out foolproof methods of preparing for extreme adventures in the mountains comprehensively. Let’s briefly run through the layering system and equipment required one by one.
The book ‘Mountaineering- Freedom of the Hills’ is a veritable bible throughout the preparation process. It patiently lays out foolproof methods of preparing for extreme adventures in the mountains comprehensively. Let’s briefly run through the layering system and equipment required one by one.
Clothing/ Layering :
- Moisture wicking - Although the temperatures could get astoundingly low, the body still warms up and sweats when it works against gravity to climb steep slopes. If the sweat is allowed to escape the first layer of clothing you wear, it will freeze once outside and render the insulation layer useless. A moisture wicking layer of undershirt and pants/long-johns would be your first defense against that happening. Add a regular hiking t-shirt/ flannel over this. A pair of moisture wicking hand gloves and socks completes the first layer.
- Insulation – The main purpose of this layer is to create a thin air gap between your body and the outside atmosphere, to help maintain body temperature. A fleece jacket or down feather jacket works fine. If you expect freezing rain, pack an artificial down jacket (polyester etc.) since it doesn’t moisten too easily and dries out quickly as well. A pair of socks made of insulating material (e.g. merino wool) helps keep your toes from going numb.
- Windbreaker – Windproof hard-shell jacket and snow pants/ski pants.
- Hand gloves/ mittens - A pair of mittens/ high insulation gloves worn over the pair of moisture wicking inner gloves. Be sure to try on both pairs of gloves beforehand to ensure a snug fit. It is essential to not lose too much dexterity of your fingers.
- Head gear -
- Face bluff/ balaclava - is your face's first line of defense against the rough windchill above the treeline.
- Ski goggles - help insulate your moist eyes and eyelashes, and the skin around it from the piercing windchill.
Climbing gear :
- Mountaineering boots - basically rugged boots with plastic outer-shell to protect from moisture
- Snow shoes - shoe extensions that mimic frog feet and distribute your weight evenly so that your feet don't sink into the snow.
- Crampons - a traction device to be attached to the bottom of the boots, helps in mobility over frozen surfaces.
- Gaiters - a garment to be worn over the shoe and bottom half of the snow-pants. Keeps crampon teeth from hurting your own feet, and keeping the powdery snow out.
- Ice axe - a safety tool designed to be used as an anchor point while hauling yourself up, or to self arrest while glissading down the slopes.
- Hiking poles with snow buckets (tiny attachments on the end of the poles)
- Climbing helmet - protects your head from flying debris/ blocks of ice etc.
Phew! Just making that list is a task. Imagine gathering these items, making sure you can use them properly, and then stuffing them into your backpack! Fun stuff.
All packed up and ready to go, I probably looked like a warrior heading out on a mission.
Most of the gear was readily available at the Mountaineering
Club’s Gear Cave – one of the greatest perks of being a UCMC member in my opinion.
At a meager fee (and academic association with the University) one can check
out highly technical gear from the club’s ‘Cave’. Amazing trail buddies are
thrown in for free. Speaking of trail buddies, the group of hikers that banded
together for this particular trip was simply put – a bunch of absolute legends.
It takes character to lead a group mostly full of greenhorns on a trip like
this, and Joe did a great job. The boy scout in him made his presence felt on
multiple occasions right since the beginning to the end.
Driving for almost a day to get to the trail-head is a fairly
common occurrence with UCMC trips, and ours was no different. The 17 hour long
drive from Cincinnati which got pretty interesting towards the end once we
spotted the big snowy mountains, was also memorable due in part to the snow
storm we got hit by somewhere in Pennsylvania; and the spooky podcasts that
substituted for eerie silence in the middle of the night.
We rolled into the mountain town of North Conway, NH around
lunchtime on Friday the 17th and immediately saw the town teeming with hikers
that had plans similar to ours. New Hampshire is home to the White Mountains
National Forest and a hotspot for hikers in and around the North East. It’s 48
4,000 footers attract mountaineers of all levels of expertise. The crowning
glory to which is of course- Mt. Washington – a part of the Presidential Range.
A visit to the 'International Mountain Equipment' shop
(a thrift shop for mountaineering gear) helped us top up the
equipment we might need for the long day ahead. Personally, I’ll forever be
thankful for the hand-warmer and foot-warmer gel packets we managed to score
here, since they kept my fingers and toes from near frostbite the next day.
An essential factor to consider while hiking in the winter
is to keep an eye out for the weather, and time the ascent while the conditions
are most favorable. Weather conditions in the mountains though, are highly
changeable due to the accelerated water cycle at higher altitude. In our case, the
plan was to get the first attempt at this summit in on Saturday, 18th
Jan. We had planned on giving it a second go the very next day, if in case we
got socked in and couldn’t summit. However, a snowstorm was predicted late into
Saturday and was supposed to continue well into the next day. Such storms tend
to cover up the trails with powdery snow, and cause whiteouts which can
disorient you and make the mountain even more dangerous an environment to be
in. The good news though, was that since snowstorms are preceded by eerie yet
calm spells of weather – Saturday, the 18th looked like the perfect
day to attempt this feat. Winds of 'only' 60-70 mph were predicted above the tree
line, and that is a beautiful day on an alpine mountain. We would have to start
early, bag the summit and get off trail before 5.00 PM in order to keep out of the
storm. A small yet stable window of opportunity.
It is important to have fueled up your body (and backpack)
with the right number of calories. The usual convention is to carry north of
2000 calories and at least a gallon (~4 liters) of water/ liquids. Now since
the temperatures we expected were so low it was impossible to carry water
without it freezing into a block of ice. But, being problem solvers that we are
– we carried pre-made foam covers for our water bottles/ Nalgenes. And storing
the water bottles upside down (so that the bottom portion freezes first) was an
essential hack we followed! A pack of high calorie Trail Mix, Protein bars,
couple of bottles of Gatorade and two liters of water took up most of the space
in our packs. Crampons took up the remaining space, while ice axes and hiking
poles got strapped on to the outside of our packs.
Conversations on the dinner table remained centered around
time limits for the following day – specifically the turn back time in order to get
off trail safely before the storm began. Despite confidence and fitness levels being
considerably high and the weather looked stable, we did not take the big snowy
mountain for granted – a wise thing to do.
The Ascent, January 18th (-13⁰ F/-25⁰C, windchill at -30⁰ F/-34⁰C)
After flitting in and out of deep yet tense sleep at the Golden Gables Inn, we were up before the sun was and drove to the AMC Pinkham Notch Visitor Center around 5.00 AM. Temperatures dropped well below freezing and the air was heavy with anticipation. After offloading our stuff from the back of the van, we made a dash for the first cover we could find – the Visitor Center’s hiker shelter. It took a few minutes for everyone to make their final preparations, lace up their boots and put on a smile. A brave smile.
It was just before 6.00 AM when we hit the Tuckerman Ravine trail and it didn’t take long to realize how incredibly cold it was. It is funny what cold weather can do to your body. We had to be careful not to sweat, all the layers of insulation keeps the body warm and it tends to sweat with all the effort. We were expressly told not to cry due to the enormity of the task since your tears might freeze and seal your eyelids. (!) Gradually some of us started peeling off layers of insulation, while others had their fingers and toes completely frozen - and go numb - despite the hand and toe warmers. Breath condensate freezing and impeding visibility through the ski goggles added another layer of difficulty for some. The sunrise couldn't come soon enough.
We battled on gradually onward and upward in the darkness,
shouting words of caution and encouragement at one another. This went on for
about an hour on the approach to the Lion’s Head winter route that specifically
avoids sections with a higher risk of avalanche. This reduction in risk comes
at a price though. The trail got noticeably steeper pretty quickly and the
breaks to catch our breath became more frequent. The beautiful sunrise in the background, and
increase in visibility and warmth that followed – did much needed wonders to
our confidence and we took on this phase of the climb with renewed vigor.
Steeper sections of the Lion's Head trail required us to strap on the crampons
and use the ice axes to haul ourselves up inch by inch. Layers of solid ice
clinging to rocks makes for utterly slippery climb; making proper technical
use and trust in these tools essentially important. The key – while climbing
vertical sections – is to maintain 3 points of contact.
I vividly remember struggling to find purchase while trying to get past a gnarly vertical ice patch. I had the front teeth of my crampons dug gingerly into the surface, and the ice axe lodged a couple of feet above my head. While trying to grab a rock for my third point of contact, the crampons gave way and I was left hanging off the wall with just the ice axe dug firmly into the ice. My shivering hand lost grip over the axe and I was about to take a tumble onto a dozen hikers directly below me. And that is when the webbing attached to the top of the axe caught my forearm and I fell only a foot or so. That... was too close for comfort. I somehow regained my poise, trusted my crampons a little more this time and hauled myself over the top section of ice. It took a few minutes to recover from this. My exhaustion had led to loss in concentration and led my misplaced crampons to slip up. Lessons learnt.
I vividly remember struggling to find purchase while trying to get past a gnarly vertical ice patch. I had the front teeth of my crampons dug gingerly into the surface, and the ice axe lodged a couple of feet above my head. While trying to grab a rock for my third point of contact, the crampons gave way and I was left hanging off the wall with just the ice axe dug firmly into the ice. My shivering hand lost grip over the axe and I was about to take a tumble onto a dozen hikers directly below me. And that is when the webbing attached to the top of the axe caught my forearm and I fell only a foot or so. That... was too close for comfort. I somehow regained my poise, trusted my crampons a little more this time and hauled myself over the top section of ice. It took a few minutes to recover from this. My exhaustion had led to loss in concentration and led my misplaced crampons to slip up. Lessons learnt.
After this I was ready; for more of the same.
The hike to get past the tree line took nearly two more
hours and consisted mostly of steep climbs over a ridiculously narrow, snowy
and steep trail. We had to take frequent breaks to scrape blocks of ice from
the underside of our boots and ensure a predictable level of traction.
We made it past the tree line at around 10.00 AM and the next
checkpoint – the Lion’s Head – was within sight. Lion’s Head is a popular checkpoint
that marks the beginning of the final assault on this peak. The summer hiking
trail approaches this point via the Tuckerman Ravine – which lay towards our
left. And what a sight it was. Tuckerman Ravine as they say is the birthplace
of skiing, and I believe the rumors.
Tuckerman Ravine from Lion's Head
The next phase of the climb - before the massive snow patch that we could see in the distance – was what felt like a trap. A mixture of powdery snow, cracked ice, rocks and more rocks. The trail wasn’t well defined, and you could pretty much aim for the snowy slope ahead, walk in that general direction and choose your own adventure. Prime injury zone. I took several falls all throughout this section despite best efforts to avoid sketchy footsteps and using my hiking poles to good effect. Every time I fell flat on my face or violently lurched into a tiny crevasse - I reminded myself that nobody had forced me to do this and that I chose to do it myself and how much fun I was having doing it. My sure-footedness (not!) made me break into laughter so many times, but I wasn’t the only one. Everyone on the trail seemed to be having a great time. After this fun patch, we finally made it to the base of the steep snow patch which seemed like it was going to be fun (on the way back down!).
This patch was full of post-holes, and unsurprisingly every step took massive effort. The wind had already picked up and it felt like every step took a whole minute. I couldn’t even listen to my own heavy breathing that was negated by the howling wind! This is where images of mountaineers slowly making their way up snowy patches flashed through my mind. I remembered thinking ‘why don’t these guys just sprint up the slopes and reach the summit quickly instead of taking almost a minute just to go a few yards!’. Mountains really have a way of dealing with your overconfidence. The slow and demanding nature of this climb really got to me – physically and mentally - and I needed a longer break than usual before we soldiered on for the summit push!
On the top of this snowy patch was a large boulder that you
could either skirt around or climb over to resume the trail. We chose this spot
as a windbreak and I decided to put on my final layer on. Half a bottle of semi-frozen Gatorade, a protein bar and a few jellybeans later – I was ready to go.
The trail past this point was gently sloped, yet a mixture
of ice and boulders. The break had refreshed me, and it helped that we had the
summit fairly within sight now. Halfway through the final section though, we could
sense the weather worsening, wind getting stronger and dark clouds appearing
ominously on the not-so-distant horizon. This became a race against time now,
to get to the summit. Despite all that, I couldn’t help but take a minute to
turn around and look back at the scenery, and let it take my breath away.
Words… fall utterly short to describe this beauty..
After another arduous hour or so of trudging up the ridge,
we finally made past the motor road that takes us to the summit. One final
obstacle remained. Stairs! You must take a considerably long flight of stairs/ skirt
around and climb some more sketchy rock patches to make to the summit. And that
was the straw that nearly broke the camel’s back. My body refused to take
another step. I was left towards the tail-end of our group... panting my heart out. Joe hung back with me, very graciously I must add. Shouting words of
encouragement while I utterly struggled at a snail’s pace up the final few
steps to the summit. ‘If you can’t walk, crawl – but keep moving towards your
target’ – I told myself.
With nearly nothing left in the tank, we made it to the
summit of Mt. Washington - which also happens to be my 12th U.S State Highpoint - a few minutes past 1.00 PM. The air was jubilant, yet
tense. We were to begin the return journey soon in order to reach base before
the storm hit. But then, all this struggle and no summit picture?! That’s not
how it works!
The crew from L to R - Manoj, Matt, Joe, Henry, Maggie, Emily, Julia, Marc and Gaurish
Fists were bumped, high fives were exchanged, smiles were
smiled. Victorious smiles. The view from the top rendered everyone speechless.
The view shortly became a little misty. Oh well, my eyes were sweating! We were
told not to cry out of fear, but they didn’t tell us not to cry out of pride!
And yet, cry out of pride – I did, just a little. Thank heavens for ski
goggles.
While loading up on the high calorie summit snack between
bites of now frozen Gatorade - I picked up a conversation with a fellow hiker
who said something to the tune of “I am so glad I did this, but it hurts so
much – I am not going to do this again”. To which I replied, “Just wait until
you get back to base, we are the kind of people who do it for the kick, no
matter the hurt”. I am sure he smiled under his face mask. This conversation
reminded me of an apt image I saw on the internet awhile back.
‘Once you’ve been to the mountains for any length of time,
you belong to them. There is no escape.’- so said author Ruskin Bond. Hence, turning
back from the top of a mountain to go home has always felt strange to me.
Partly because I consider every mountain top a tiny piece of home. That, and
the fact that going downhill is incredibly taxing on your knees! Especially if
you miss a step, and it is easy to miss a step in such conditions.
After clearing the gently sloped boulder field on the way
down, we discovered the pleasures of glissading down the snow patch. Once you
get the knack of self-arresting using the ice axe held across the front of your
body, it easily becomes one of the fun-est things you can do on a mountain.
It is
pretty quick too. The upper body though, has to put in a good amount of effort
to self-arrest and steer your glissading descent.
And that was when cramps
started to hit. Getting back onto my feet after every patch of glissading
became incredibly painful on my calves and thighs. Water, Gatorade, salty
snacks at regular intervals and the fact that the tree line was pretty close
now helped take my mind off the hurt and take in the views as much as I could.
Once
below the tree line, we were sufficiently protected from the wrath of the
impending storm. But with dark clouds gathering, light was failing and there
was a beeline of hikers going downhill. Prime accident zone. Due to the ability
to glissade quickly though, it didn’t take too long to reach the steep ice
patch that I had an incident on the way up. The patch was just as sketchy going
down and created a bottleneck with more than a dozen hikers gingerly hanging on to their
ice axes. We figured there had to be a way to speed up the process. Marc and
Joe decided to tie a rope off the tree that had fallen across the trail and
improvise a quick rappelling technique to lower hikers about 10 ft or so, sans
the need of a harness. The wait to get to rap off the rope wasn’t fun,
especially since I happen to be a champion rappeler. (!)
Once we got down past that point, rest of the journey was
but a walk through gently sloped, snow covered trail. It was time to break into
songs and chatter about climbing Mt. Everest next (not). The final part of any
hike always tends to feel unnecessarily long, especially if you need to switch on
your headlamps again! We didn’t mind though. The sound of heavy crunching
footsteps and the gentle breeze blended in well with the frequent sight of floating snowflakes bedazzled by the brilliant beams of a dozen headlamps.
We got off the Tuckerman Ravine trail and made it back to
the Pinkham Notch Visitor center a little after 6.00 PM; having spent spending a full
12 hours in probably the harshest conditions a lot of us had ever been in.
‘Where is my bed?!’ I asked.
After multiple slices of indulgent pizzas, a warm shower and
a beer (or two) we slept a well-earned sound sleep that night.
Ice Climbing at Cathedral Ledge
A predictably late morning the next day left us to decide
whether to drive straight back home, or to hit the Cathedral Ledge for ice
climbing. The prospect of freezing ourselves numb once again sounded enticing
to us, and we decided on going for it. The Cathedral Ledge lies at a solid 40 minute drive from North Conway and is a fairly beginner friendly ice climbing
zone. It features a multi-pitch frozen waterfall that you can climbing using a top rope.
The gear used is slightly different, the climbing axes are
shorter, sharper and shaped with a more pronounced curve through the middle.
This structure helps maintain a strong grip on the ice slab using a minimal
effort. The ice climbing crampons have a visibly sturdier set of front teeth as
compared to hiking crampons. The key again, is to have 3 points of contact at
any given time.
During the climb, the first step is to lodge your ice axes
at a striking distance above your head firmly into the ice. It may take a few
strokes to get it attached as the top layer of ice tends to chip off. Next, lift
a knee and dig the teeth of your crampons into the ice slightly higher to stand
up and push your torso near the axes. Repeat for the other foot. The progress
can be painstakingly slow in the beginning. The boots must be laced up tight to eliminate your
heel lifting inside it which may cause unnecessary strain on your calves.
Secondly, you must be able to trust the crampons biting into the ice in order
to stand up on them and propel yourself upwards.
In all honestly, the hardest part about this wasn’t even the
climb itself. It was the wait for my turn! My limbs that went nearly numb from
the wait, warmed up in a jiffy once I got on with the climb. The cramps came
back and repeating every axe swing became more and more painful... in a fun
way!
All in all, a good weekend. One that made me realize my
physically capabilities and how much stronger I need to be. All that needed to
be done thereafter was to retrace our drive from Ohio.
We get lost doing things we love doing. We find ourselves
there, too...
#HappiestWhenInTheMountains