TR: Current EC Ski and Climbing Stoke
Backcountryben and i had been emailing each other all week about the possibilities of a skiing and climbing dual sport day on mount washington, he already wrote up a good TR for a few of our friends that i'll copy here:
Quote:
So sam and I were emailing earlier this week, and, being our typically one-dimensional selves, realized that a)there is still snow in tucks b)we haven't skied in june yet and c)both of us had thursday off from work (sam because it's scheduled for him, me because I got my wisdom teeth out on tuesday and convinced my boss i needed a couple days off to heal)
Fast-forward to 545am, thursday morning. My alarm clock is ringing. Somehow my sleeping body manages to reach over and hit the snooze button. All is quiet.
600am. My alarm clock rings again. kcuf! This time My semi-conscious mind is, well, semi-conscious enough to realize there might be a reason, and the auto-snooze reflex is stopped. I sit up, see my backpack sitting next to the door. With my teleboots and helmet next to it and my rope next to that...
830am, Pinkham Notch. My pack is heavy. Sam and I (and his mom- she came along for the hike) start up the trail feeling more like sherpas (core sherpas...) than skiers. We're in shorts and t-shirts but have skis, boots, warm weather gear, food, water, emergency stuff, trad rack, climbing shoes, rope, and safety bricks. Actually we forgot the safety bricks, but i'm sure I forgot something else we were carrying.
The sweat starts quickly. It's only 60 degrees out, but the combination of heavy packs and sam's blistering pace mean we're working plenty hard. The all-too-familiar first switchbacks of the tucks trail fly by. I start to settle into the usual mindless, trail-to-tucks-trudge mindset, when suddenly we stop. We're only half-way up, around the point where someone in your group usually wants a drink or a snack or something. Instead we turn off on the Huntington Ravine trail. Which, although topo maps will try to tell you otherwise, goes straight up (vertical).
More sweat. But finally we arrive at a view, where the entirely snowless boot spur drifts mysteriously in and out of clouds. Valley mist rises and falls dramatically. We stop, drink water, and review the plan. right. THE PLAN:
*Climb Pinnacle Buttress
*Ski
Some hiking naturally had to be thrown in there at some point as well, to get from place to place. So, without further ado, the pictures (Sam has more and probably better ones too because his camera works better)
i would only add that i'm still sore from the trip and that it was totally worth it, get off your asses and make some turns the snow is still there, but not for long.
here are Bens pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/powderskier/PresiFun6142007
Mine are here:
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/a...1&d=1182042399
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/a...1&d=1182042399
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/a...1&d=1182042399
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/a...1&d=1182042399
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/a...1&d=1182042399
