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.

• Under some conditions that advice is not nearly conservative enough.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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).

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.

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!!!

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!