|
 What started out as spam in my inbox became quite an
adventure. Instead of deleting the mail from the EMS Climbing school, I decided to
open it. In the beginner mountaineering category they
offered a $150 guided trip up Mt. Washington in winter.
That was perfect! Mt. Washington is no joke anytime of year. For $150
(per person) you'd get a Mt. Washington experienced guide
and all the "heavy equipment" (i.e. plastic boots, crampons,
ice axe, etc.) provided. All you had to do was provide the
people and the gear suggested in their list.
I sent out some emails (spam of my own I suppose) and got
two excited participants - Buddy & Craig. Niether had ever
done such a thing, but were more then willing to try.
For me the deal with Jen was to get it done by the end of
December in plenty time for the arrival of our baby. Talking
with the guys we settled on the date of Dec. 12th. Technically
not winter, but close enough for our experience. We'd drive up
Friday, climb Saturday and drive back Sunday.
In the month/weeks prior to the trip the weather was
looking pretty lame. Hardly an inch of snow fell in
November and the temps were quite balmy, but all that changed
around Thanksgiving. The temperatures plummeted, the wind
picked up and snow fell - something like 28" the week of our
trip.
The forecast for the day was
blistering cold and windy. Unsure of what to really take and
not knowing if Buddy & Craig really had the right stuff, I
nearly packed everything I had. Between the three of us, you
can see in the picture, we had three duffle bags and three
backpacks worth of gear fo a single days hike.
Turns out in the end we only needed what was specified on
their gear list and didn't even wear that
much. | 
One of the most important points of gear for such a
trip is what's referred to as "the summit kit". This includes
at minium a hat, balaclava, neoprene face mask and goggles.
With the winds and temperatures we'd be facing, you couldn't
risk exposing any skin on your face.
After the fashion show we headed to dinner at the 
At 7am we had to meet our guide at the EMS in North
Conway.
Our guide is the guy in the yellow boots. His name is
Craig - pretty well experienced and all around cool
guy.
Because of the recent snow accumulations, Craig the
guide suggested we take snowshoes.
Then we stuffed all our gear and ourselves into my
car and headed off to the mountain.
We started from 
After signing in at the lodge we were ready to
roll. 
Immediately the four of us started a train marching
toward the top. Craig our guide seemed a little surprised
by our vigor, but happy to play along.