View Full Version : Nobo #1227 summits 10/23 "in the most treacherous conditions imaginable".
TJ aka Teej
10-24-2016, 17:25
From his FB posting:
"Today I climbed Katahdin in the most treacherous conditions imaginable. The conditions included spots with waist deep snow, almost whiteout conditions, 70 plus mph winds and temperatures around negative 20. Nothing was stopping me from the top. This was not a hike it was full blown mountaineering!"
5 of the 9 hikers failed to reach the summit
I had the wrong gear that is for sure
dudeijuststarted
10-24-2016, 17:35
This person should change their trail name to "Captain Insan-o"
I'm surprised the folks at BSP hadn't declared this a Class IV day right from the get-go, if conditions were as bad as the FB post claims. Perhaps the weather turned out to be a lot worse than forecast.
I'm surprised the folks at BSP hadn't declared this a Class IV day right from the get-go, if conditions were as bad as the FB post claims. Perhaps the weather turned out to be a lot worse than forecast.
I suspect it was embellished for the reader enjoyment. always have to make it just a bit more epic for facie.
Another Kevin
10-24-2016, 19:28
I'm surprised the folks at BSP hadn't declared this a Class IV day right from the get-go, if conditions were as bad as the FB post claims. Perhaps the weather turned out to be a lot worse than forecast.
Uhm, yeah. And the winter rules don't go into effect until 1 December. Dunno.
Slo-go'en
10-24-2016, 21:20
It was a pretty wild early winter storm which passed by here Saturday night and into Sunday. The summits got high winds and lots of wet snow. Not a day you'd want to be above timber line. The central Maine mountains got a direct hit.
But yea, it's pretty remarkable they let them even try in that storm.
It was a pretty wild early winter storm which passed by here Saturday night and into Sunday. The summits got high winds and lots of wet snow. Not a day you'd want to be above timber line. The central Maine mountains got a direct hit.
But yea, it's pretty remarkable they let them even try in that storm.
was that the night mt washington got 120 mph winds?
TJ aka Teej
10-24-2016, 21:39
I'm surprised the folks at BSP hadn't declared this a Class IV day right from the get-go, if conditions were as bad as the FB post claims.
No Class days any more, Katahdin's either open or closed. To me it sounds like some ATers walked past the 'all trails closed' sawhorse at the trailhead.
And the winter rules don't go into effect until 1 December.
Nothing to do with winter regs - the Park can call the mountain closed at any time.
Hangfire
10-25-2016, 00:06
This is exactly how I describe my hike up Amicolola to Springer...of course it was a warm sunny day with no snow, but it makes a better story.
Slo-go'en
10-25-2016, 10:28
No Class days any more, Katahdin's either open or closed. To me it sounds like some ATers walked past the 'all trails closed' sawhorse at the trailhead.
Yea, that's what I was thinking. The weather hasn't improved any since the weekend, its been snowing at higher elevations the last couple of days. In fact, it's snowing pretty good at my house right now. And before this really has a chance to clear out, another storm is coming for Thursday.
It was a pretty long and mild fall this year, but early winter has finally caught up to us and looks like its now here to stay. Anyone still out there is in for some bad conditions.
Another Kevin
10-25-2016, 10:53
No Class days any more, Katahdin's either open or closed. To me it sounds like some ATers walked past the 'all trails closed' sawhorse at the trailhead.
Nothing to do with winter regs - the Park can call the mountain closed at any time.
That they can ... but November and mud season are by far the most likely times. In deep winter they seem to have more of an attitude of "on your own head be it."
Another Kevin
10-25-2016, 11:00
The weather hasn't improved any since the weekend, its been snowing at higher elevations the last couple of days. In fact, it's snowing pretty good at my house right now. And before this really has a chance to clear out, another storm is coming for Thursday.
It was a pretty long and mild fall this year, but early winter has finally caught up to us and looks like its now here to stay. Anyone still out there is in for some bad conditions.
Yeah. I'm down in the valley, so no snow here, but I can see afar off that the Catskills and Taconics are snow-capped, and I heard from an ADK trail crew that they got horrible ice over the winter where they were working near Long Lake. They're trying to get one more crew out from Lake Placid before the chainsaw window closes, because the winds in that storm brought down a whole lot of stuff, with hiker reports that skirting some of the blowdown above the Chubb River and Roaring Brook is dangerously technical. I hope we get a decent snowpack here, the reservoirs need it. We can tolerate summer drought pretty well as long as we start with a water surplus.
colorado_rob
10-25-2016, 11:27
I suspect it was embellished for the reader enjoyment. always have to make it just a bit more epic for facie.First thing I thought of as well. Minus 20, really? 70MPH-plus winds, really? Wind speeds are almost always greatly exaggerated, I used to carry an anemometer for a while, to actually get a feel for wind speeds, and I found that 70MPH winds are pretty much impossible to actually hike/climb in. 55-60MPH is the max I can make any forward progress in, and that involves heavy leaning and sometimes crawling and a lot of four letter words.
I don't doubt the conditions were horrendous, just not -20 (unless they are talking "wind chill", fairly meaningless if properly geared, which they may not have been I s'pose) and 70+ mph winds.
weather.gov can provide forecasts and three day history of weather conditions at Baxter SP online. It doesn't confirm the weather as claimed but then it is possible that the weather for Baxter does not reflect what was on Katahdin, exactly.