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A Tale of Tragedy Narrowly Averted: Twelve Lessons for Travel Above Treeline

A Tale of Tragedy Narrowly Averted: Twelve Lessons for Travel Above Treeline. Lession 1: Don’t Count on Moving Rapidly. Trail conditions can make half a mile per hour and exhausting speed. The AMC guidbook suggests travel times should be doubled in winter.

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A Tale of Tragedy Narrowly Averted: Twelve Lessons for Travel Above Treeline

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  1. A Tale of Tragedy Narrowly Averted:Twelve Lessons for Travel Above Treeline

  2. Lession 1: Don’t Count on Moving Rapidly • Trail conditions can make half a mile per hour and exhausting speed. • The AMC guidbook suggests travel times should be doubled in winter. • Under some conditions that advice is not nearly conservative enough.

  3. Lesson 2: Bring clothing suitable for Full-Scale Arctic Conditions • Especially important is adequate headgear (because so much heat loss occurs through the head). • Genuine Winter boots (not summer-weight hiking boots) • A good mitten-glove combination.

  4. Lesson 3: Never Try to Move in a Full-scale Storm Above Treeline • Stay in a shelter or tent. • No one should risk becoming exhausted or lost in the incredible and relentless fury of some White Mountain storms.

  5. Lesson 4: Never Go Anywhere Without a Compass • If you get lost in an extended white-out without a compass (and especially without the proper gear) you are in a very severe situation.

  6. Lesson 5: Don’t Count on Following Your Own Footprints • Wind can blow them into oblivion in a few minutes. • The hole left by an ice axe lasts somewhat longer, so look for those rather than your crampon tracks.

  7. Lesson 6: Never Separate Yourself From the Equipment You Need For Survival • Without a their packs--and spare clothes, sleeping bags, tent, stove, food--they would have surely perished in the open. • With their packs, their chances of survival were considerably improved.

  8. Lesson 7: Remember that Early Winter Days Have the Fewest Hours • “It’s the time of the year when it gets late early”--Yogi Berra • A Head Lamp is good insurance against getting caught in the dark (with an extra bulb and extra batteries).

  9. Lesson 8: Always Take Time To Pack Properly • Failure to stash an item inside your pack (and even inside a plastic bag) can result in it becoming so soaked as to be useless. • Items can be torn off your pack and lost. • In this case the price was only some lost sleep.

  10. Lesson 9: In setting up a tent, never assume the wind direction will be constant • Few if any tents can withstand the full fury of a Presidential’s storm. • Snow caves and Igloos are better, but can be time consuming (and there may be little snow).

  11. Lesson 10: In Winter, neither wind nor cold are as deadly as warmth and rain, followed by cold. • When this occurs, leave fast, especially if your gear is soaked.

  12. Lesson 11: Many Layers of wool are worth more than the finest down when wet (circa 1968) • As already discussed, dress like an onion • Don’t wear cotton anything!!!

  13. Lesson 12: Never Underestimate Winter in the Mountains • The average wind speed on Mt. Washington in July is 24.7 mph, in January it is 43.8 • From 1948 to 1975, the fastest wind recorded in January was 124.9 mph!! • Wind chill factor makes the apparent temp as low as -80 F or lower!

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