Just last week, a couple of experienced hikers set off on a day hike up Mt. Lafayette. They chose the Old Bridle Path, which is the most common and direct route to the summit. Bad weather came in, and they were stranded above treeline in extremely low temperatures for two nights. The husband barely survived and his wife died.
By all accounts, they knew what they were doing, and they were well-equipped for a winter day above treeline. They weren't prepared for a night above treeline, however, let alone two. Still, they used their heads, built a snow cave and did their best. The bad weather outlasted their endurance.
One of the downsides of winter hiking is all the extra stuff you have to carry for emergencies that almost never arise. Carrying a tent or bivvies, sleeping bags & pads, extra clothing, a shovel, extra food and a stove for melting snow adds a lot of weight to an already heavy pack. The thin margin for error in winter hiking makes this extra load a necessity. If it means that you need to hit the stairmaster with a 50 lb pack for the weeks leading up to your trip, it's worth it. If these folks had these things, they might be OK. Dry clothes, a warm, dry sleeping bag and Nalgene bottles full of hot water make a huge difference.
I did an overnight at the Liberty Springs tentsite three Aprils ago. Apparently no one tells the mountains that April is Spring. :-) We had a beautiful first day - warm and sunny. The deep snowpack was so soft that we decided to leave the crampons in the Jeep and just go with snowshoes. We summitted, set up camp, made dinner and hit the sack. I awoke in the middle of the night to hear freezing rain on the tent (Doh!). I tapped the fabric, and it was solid! I wasn't worried. We were warm, dry and had plenty of gear. I knew that we could Gore-Tex up, break camp and descend, while keeping dry. Fortunately, the rain stopped by morning, but the trail was a sheet of ice.
Crampons would have made the trek a snap, but they were three miles and three thousand feet of elevation away. My Denali snowshoes were certainly up to the task, but my partner had rented recreational shoes, which weren't so good on ice. I gave her my Denalis and wore the crappy shoes, figuring that my greater weight, combined with stomping would give me the traction I needed. I fell on my ass a few times, but it worked.
My point is that this was a minor (and common) weather glitch, and we needed every scrap of extra gear we'd brought along. I'll never again trade crampons for weight savings.
In the winter, you have to expect the worst and hope for the best. I always carry a full compliment of overnight gear. The only time I don't carry some kind of formal overnight gear is on summer (or late spring/early fall) day hikes. Even then, I carry a ground pad, fleece tops & bottoms and one of those emergency 'space blanket' bivvies.
Comments