Today I met up with my friend Brent (http://www.brentdoscher.com/) in hopes to climb some ice. The recent warm weather took its toll on a lot of the good ice climbing destinations. We knew we’d need to go to higher elevations and colder temps to find good ice conditions. The initial plan was to head into Tuckerman’s Ravine on Mt. Washington as Brent spotted a good flow from the ridge on Lion Head a couple days ago.

Weather Forecast and Avalanche Danger

The forecast today was looking pretty gnarly. With a high in the low teens, 100 mph wind gusts, snow and 50 below wind chill!

Today’s Higher Summits Forecast

However, with the wind forecasted to come out of the west for the most part, we had hopes that the summit of the mountain would keep us sheltered from it while we climbed on the east side. We knew we might be in for some intense weather regardless, and we packed accordingly. Extra layers, heavier mittens, hard shells, chem warmers, the works. The avalanche report for today showed most gullies in Tuckerman and Huntington Ravine were “Low danger” while a couple in Huntington Ravine had “Moderate danger” advisories. Continue reading →