Our ski day on Moosilauke was pretty special, but overshadowing the day is this whole month. “Miracle March” has given us one of the best ski months in recent memory and helped salvage an otherwise disappointing ski season.
Ski Season Comes Back to Cardigan
Although Cardigan isn’t the loftiest of goals, nor does it present the most challenging terrain, we found plenty of fresh snow, good turns, and managed to duck the crowds for most of the day. It even got me stoked on skiing again!
Mount Washington Gear List
Summiting Mount Washington via the Lions Head is a trip up one of New England’s iconic mountains via one of the region’s most classic routes. In preparation for an upcoming article for goEast, we recently revisited this classic climb. To coordinate our packing, we found ourselves typing out a checklist for personal and group gear. Although extraneous to the article, the list is interesting and informative.
Surf Station Winter 2018
It’s been a busy several weeks. On goEast, we co-authored four more pieces—covering tips for getting ready for backcountry ski season, outdoor podcasts to keep you entertained during the drive to the mountains, 52 goEast trips to help turn your outdoor-themed New Years resolution into a reality, and guidelines for when its time to replace biking, climbing, and hiking equipment—as well as the Alpha Guide to Shoestring Gully (the best moderate ice climb in New Hampshire).
The Best and Worst of Ski Season
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. After the start of a ski season that fluctuated somewhere between uneventful and blah thanks to an unseasonably warm stretch of weather, the snow finally arrived. However, with the snow also came record-low temperatures that tempered any enthusiasm for sliding on snow with biting cold.
My Worst Hike Ever
Everest Woman is responsible for my worst hike ever: a December 2007 ascent of the Hancocks in the White Mountains. To this day I have not forgiven her. I was cold. So cold. This is the story.
Frigid Fun on Mount Tecumseh
Looking to break the cycle and to start the new year off by doing something active and outdoors—sorry, treadmill and climbing gym—I headed to Mount Tecumseh on New Year’s day with Doug, my wife, and the intention of skinning to the summit of a 4,000-footer and skiing down the adjacent Waterville Valley Resort.
Tips for Becoming a Skinning Star
When most people think of backcountry skiing, their minds turn to flying down a backcountry bowl or gliding through glades; but, the truth is, self-powered skiers spend far more time going uphill than down. To make the most of your time spent going uphill—and to hopefully spend a little less time doing so—follow these tips to become a skin track superstar.
Book Report: On the Nose
On the Nose gives a good account of Florine’s ascent from a Yosemite wannabe, who bailed only a few pitches up the Nose on his first attempt, to the modern day guru of how to climb the route fast. It’s through early accounts of his experiences on the route that the reader can see Florine’s passion for the Nose grow. It’s also interesting to watch Florine’s dedication, systems, and strategy grow with each successive trip up the Nose.
Weather or Not It’s Worth It
The awkward transitional time that happens as fall gives way to winter often leaves me searching for motivation. With not enough snow to ski and not enough ice to climb—at least for mortals like me—my adventures in the Whites are typically relegated to hiking. Lacking the speed of skiing and the excitement of ice climbing, at times I find myself asking is the drive for hiking worth it?
Some Days in the Mountains You Just Don’t Want to End
So often our trips to the mountains are focused on squeezing in multiple objectives, doing something in a fast time, or just moving quickly in order to get back home to our never-ending lists of other commitments. On this day, however, we chose to linger. To make conversation with other hikers. To bask on a sunny slab on Pierce’s flanks because days like this are few and deserve to be cherished.
Book Report: Alpine Warriors
Alpine Warriors follows the rise of Slovenian alpinism, mostly focused on their achievements in the Himalaya, following it from its rise in the 1960s and into today. Holding the book together are passages pulled from the pages of another book—Pot—authored by the iconic Slovenian alpinist Nejc Zaplotnik. Pot, meaning the way, has served as a bible for generations of Slovenian alpinists and been a defining work for generations fo climbers.