Everytime you plan hikes in uncovered terrain, it’s helpful to plan out escape routes in case an surprising thunderstorm storm or blizzard blows in, you encounter white-out circumstances, avalanche circumstances, flash floods, forest fires, or it is advisable evacuate a companion.
I do contingency planning like this when mountaineering throughout uncovered terrain with out a lot cowl, above-treeline, or in winter, when there’s an actual threat of bodily hurt or demise if issues go pear-shaped. Relying on rescue or extraction in such excessive circumstances seldom pays off and the one solution to save your butt is to put it aside your self.
Whereas native information, particularly planning with somebody who is aware of the native terrain properly is helpful, you don’t all the time have entry to it. Conversely, since you are native, complacency may be harmful until you suppose out the professionals and cons of various routes together with your companions upfront.
An instance is so as. Whereas this may show most helpful for White Mountain winter hikers, it makes some common factors about tips on how to plan winter escape routes which can be relevant for anybody planning an above-treeline hike or ski tour.
Winter Escape Routes within the Presidential Vary
The Presidential Vary is a mountain vary in New Hampshire’s White Mountains that hyperlinks Mt Washington’s northern and southern ridges. The vary consists of 9 mountain summits which can be 4000 ft or greater, together with Mts. Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Clay, Washington, Monroe, Eisenhower, Pierce, and Jackson. A full nineteen-mile traverse of those peaks is known as a Presidential Traverse and consists of 9 miles of above-treeline mountaineering with 9,000-10,000 ft of cumulative elevation achieve. Quite a few winter hikers additionally climb the person peaks or subsets of the complete traverse.
The ridge is bounded to the east and west by steep ravines and glacial cirques. Whereas a number of dozens mountaineering trails climb to the ridgeline, most are too harmful or distant to make use of in winter, limiting the variety of good winter escape routes obtainable.
The very best winter escape routes (marked in black) within the Presidential Vary are:
- Valley Means Path – Straightforward to search out from the Madison Springs Hut (closed in winter). Closely wooded under treeline (4500′) offering good safety. Runs instantly to the Appalachia Trailhead and Rt 2.
- Lowes Path – May be tough to comply with and not using a compass from Thunderstorm Junction to treeline in dangerous visibility, however results in the Grey Knob cabin which is manned and has a radio. Runs on to Lowes Storage and Rt 2.
- Jewell Path – The highest of the path is uncovered, however is simple to comply with by means of Krummholz. Runs on to the Cog Railroad lot with good winter street entry.
- The Cog Railroad – Onerous to overlook. Observe the railroad monitor right down to the Cog station. It has good street entry year-round.
- Ammonoosuc Path – Straightforward to search out from Lakes of the Clouds Hut (closed in winter). Very icy on the prime and a bit laborious to comply with in poor visibility. Traces a protected route down the ravine and runs on to Cog railroad lot with good winter street entry.
- Edmands Path – Prime may be blocked by deep snow, however drops into the timber shortly and results in a street with good snowmobile entry. As soon as down, you possibly can stroll out to the AMC Highland Heart and Rt 302 in Crawford Notch.
All of those routes keep away from harmful terrain and serve to get you under treeline and into cowl as shortly as doable. Most are simple to comply with with a compass in a white-out or as a result of they comply with apparent geographic options that pressure you to hike in the best route. In lots of instances, they’re additionally the one protected route off the ridgeline and out to security, as a result of different routes are too harmful to comply with.
Winter Hazards
For those who take a look at a map of the Presidential Vary, there are about two dozen trails that lead above-treeline to the summits alongside the ridge. Why are most of them impassable in winter? What makes a path that’s protected for three-season use, harmful in winter circumstances?
Avalanche Zones
The prevailing winds that sweep the Presidential Vary run from the west to the east, blowing snow off the ridge into the jap cirques and ravines that are vulnerable to avalanche exercise. Whereas avalanche forecasting is on the market for Tuckerman Ravine and Huntington Ravine on the east facet of Mt Washington (due to their reputation with skiers and ice climbers) avalanche circumstances can happen in different areas, together with north and western-facing slopes comparable to King Ravine, Citadel Ravine, and the Ammonoosuc Ravine. Whereas a 35-45 diploma slope angle is a helpful avalanche forecasting heuristic, slides do happen on slope angles better than 45 levels within the Presidential Vary. The very best technique is to take an avalanche consciousness class and learn to learn the snow pack.
Visibility
Above-treeline trails are marked with rock cairns that may be very tough to comply with in dense fog or white-out circumstances as a result of they mix in with the boulder-strewn panorama. Trails which can be simple to comply with the remainder of the 12 months, can simply vanish beneath snow cowl and turn out to be very tough to search out. It’s not that uncommon to comply with a compass bearing when mountaineering above-treeline in winter when landmarks or trails aren’t seen.
Snow depth
Mountain climbing off the ridge and into an space with deep snow ought to be averted due to the effort and time required to hike out. For instance, you wouldn’t wish to hike down into Oakes Gulf within the Dry River Wilderness since you’d have to interrupt path for miles to get again to a street. That may be just about unimaginable and not using a massive group.
Publicity
The typical wind pace on Mt Washington is 40-45 mph from January by means of March. Whereas wind speeds are usually a bit decrease on the opposite Presidential peaks, frostbite is all the time a giant concern above-treeline making many exit routes much less fascinating than others. For instance, you wouldn’t wish to hike down the Osgood Path, the Airline Path, the Howker Ridge Path, or the Citadel Path in winter as a result of they’ve a lot unprotected publicity to the wind and precipitation. The Mt Washington Auto Highway additionally has an amazing quantity of publicity, though it may be used as a final resort off Washington in dangerous visibility as a result of the street is simpler to search out than most above-treeline trails.
Poor Highway Entry
Many roads shut and turn out to be inaccessible in backcountry areas throughout winter, which may additionally make escape routes much less fascinating. For instance, mountaineering out the highly-exposed Caps Ridge Path from Mt Jefferson results in a seasonal street that’s impassable and closed in winter, apart from snowmobile visitors. When planning a winter journey, it’s necessary to find out about seasonal street closures and entry.
Resolution Factors
Whereas escape route planning is a crucial side of winter navigation, you shouldn’t overlook the necessity to plan out determination factors throughout your hike or tour. These are areas the place you’ll resolve to maintain going alongside your supposed route, flip round, or hike out certainly one of your pre-planned escape routes (maybe to a pre-planned automotive spot.) These determination factors ought to embody the junction of your route with every pre-planned escape route, amongst others.
When planning a call level, it’s necessary to specify the place the choice will happen and the factors you’ll use to make your determination, notably in case you’re main a bunch or mountaineering in a bunch of friends and not using a designated chief. Whereas the dynamics of group decision-making are past the scope of this text, this subject is roofed closely in AIARE avalanche consciousness programs, which I like to recommend you are taking in case you plan to hike, ski, or climb above the treeline in winter.
Up to date 2023.
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