Your non-hiker friend wants to clim Mt. Washington, a hypoth

Your 30 some year old friend has come back from the beach & has told you that this was the first year his wife made some fun about the little paunch hanging over his bathing suit & those ample love handles.

He knows you hike a lot & appear in good shape. Being the Type A personality that he is, he wants to climb Mt. Washington, this year (it's 7/31/01 today) and is willing to do whatever you tell him about getting in shape & going on three to six warm up hikes. He can only hike every over weekend, one day, jog 3x a week & is cutting Oreo's from his diet. (5'10" 215 or so about 175-180 would be normal, not a running physique but shoulders aren't Arnold's either. Recent physical was unremarkable for heart condition but cholesterol was 220 & MD thought he should consider some dietary & excerise changes, softball & bowling is not enough by themselves or dog walking around the block)

The more warm up hikes you go on, the later it gets in the year obviously. My thought is a mid-Sept to 11/4 deadline on your planned ascent as your friend while willing to trust you & buy some gear is not looking at crampons, snowshoes, sorels or Plastic boots, face mask & goggles as being required or even advisable.

What gear do you have him get? (he has day-hiking boots Asolo 357's he wears in winter around town in good shape & wool socks for waiting for the bus.)

Where in the Northeast do you go for warm up hikes? Same hill or gradual build up. He is a good friend & will listen to you but will do Washington with or without you so in his best interest & your friendships interest you agree to go but you set the rules, nothing dictator like just your standard day hiking routine.

The reason I ask, is that I was checking the accident reports on AMC's website yesterday & while I thought the non-winter 2000 season was unremarkable, there were six fatalities due to heart attacks (or very similar) with four victims between 35-50, all males. (Lonesome Lake, Ossipees, Cardigan, Monadnock & two other locations I forget)

I have a friend who was in a similar state of disrepair when he decided to climb Mt Washington prior to donating his kidney to his sister in-law. I was somewhat concerned that he too would succumb to a heart attack on the way to the summit leaving me with the daunting decision to either feed his body to the vultures that were circling overhead or lugging said body down the mountain.


Lucky for him and my moral dilemma he was able to climb the Jewel trail and make it to the summit of Mt Washington without incident. I have several friends who have expressed some desire to climb Mt Washington even though they have never hiked before. There must be something about Mt Washington that draws non-hikers into wanting to climb the mountain. I can't count how many body bags (totally unprepared hikers) I have encountered ascending Mt Washington without even a bottle of water. I am truly surprised that there are not more deaths on that mountain.

You can find discussion at length on this topic in the archives of the Hiker Journal (or Mountains and Molehills) BB at the AMC web site.
Hundreds (thousands?) of people ascend Washinton every summer with no more (or even less) preparation that your friend. If he has decent boots, a pack, some rain gear and he will listen to you if you say no go due to the weather, he'll be fine. Some warmup hikes would be, of course, Franconia Ridge, Carter Dome, Chocurua. Jeferson via Caps Ridge would give him a quick preview of the footing on Washington. The possibilities are endless. Good Luck.

His fitness schedule is fine. You don't need to be in great shape to climb Mt. Washington. What he needs to do is to pace himself and treat himself appropriately. I'd want to be sure that he didn't overpack, that he not push too fast and too hard and that he have enough to eat and drink on the way. I'd also want to be sure that he was was ready to turn around if need be.

Having accomplished a similar feat last May 2000, I can still remember how grueling I felt hiking Mt. Washington was. That said, it's more than doable physically for most people; it's the mental exercise he should get used to also to make it an enjoyable experience.

I'd recommend as warm-up hikes: Liberty, Jeffeson via Caps, and maybe Eisenhower or Pierce or Jackson. Those should get him at least used to the idea of pacing himself, hydrating, fueling, etc. And those hikes should also give him an idea of whether the gear he has will hold up (e.g. his boots).

He should be fine, particularly since he'll be going up with an accomplished hiker. Just be sure you don't push him to move at your pace. Give him plenty of opportunity to stop and recharge his batteries. I was lucky that the guy I went up with was very comforting, especially when I puked at Lions Head! :grin:

I recently was in a similar quandary on Katahdin. I was organizing a trip for friends and was approached by another good friend who had been there in his early 20's, but due to the wrong equipment, could not cross Knife Edge (steel toe boots!). When we first spoke, he just wanted to get to the top. I said sure - join us, and I'll help you get geared up. A week before vacation, he called and told me that his wife was also coming. I figured, OK, what's the worst that can happen? They can afford the gear (or at least are willing to spend the $$$). I suggested that we take a warmup hike, and we'd take it from there. So far, all went well.
Then came the trip. It was definitely a test of my patience. (Interesting what one considers is "optional" gear)All plans were tossed out the window by the time we had reached Chimney Pond. That's probably the toughest challenge that you will have. Strong minded individuals will find what it takes to get a single hike done. They may never head back out once they reach that goal. If you're lucky, you may find a new hiking partner. If you're unlucky, the best part of the trip will be the ride home!
My advice - make sure that YOU are ready (not necessary physically, but mentally). Your friend will take care of him(her)self. If the plans change, go with the flow. Just remember, hiking is very much an individual thing, and you are entering an area where "worlds collide". I also suggest that you keep your group small initially, as you will likely be more understanding than anyone else in the party.
MikeP - I know I'm preaching to the choir here, and I know you've mulled all of this over. Good Luck - SherpaKroto

I dunno, you can never tell...just do it. Go with no expectations and be prepared to bail.

I went up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail this past Sunday. It was hot and humid, no wind, a little fog blew in a couple of times. Supposedly I'm "experienced" but I didn't eat/drink/rest often or long enough so I was woozy and had a whopper of a headache by the time I got to the top. I looked woefully at the twenty in my hand and wished I'd stuck my credit card in my pack instead, I might've given in and taken the hiker shuttle down. This being my first time on Washington, I didn't know such a thing existed. However I was glad I hiked down, took my time and enjoyed the views.

Twig,

Myself and most in my party bailed due to the heat and more-rugged-than-anticipated trail a month ago. Most of us could have continued (but didn't relish the suffering in the baking heat and sun - no fog this day) however one was pretty wobbly and slowing down considerably. So the gang of us decided to take the easy way down.

We ended up hitching a ride in the bed of a pickup on the auto road. It was a blast - highlight of the weekend, we laughed so much at the reaction of the 2 poor guys who picked us up...

They stopped to cool the brakes and we having a smoke in the truck... we appeared out of nowhere and knocked on the window - the guys couldn't believe we had walked up through the woods and been out since 8:00 am!
Maybe they didn't know there were trails!

We jumped out at Old Jackson Rd and walked the last 2 miles back to Pinkham through the cool woods - they kept asking us "you sure we don't want us to drive you the rest of the way?"

We each pitched in a couple $ for these guys - they were so pleased - unanticipated beer fund!

Sometimes it's the journey, not the destination.

Sounds like you had a great time hikergrrl. I can just imagine the look on the faces of those guys when you knocked on their window!

I agree with ya, but that time it was the destination that counted. That's not always the case - last weekend I was on Katahdin and met up with a few people who were surprised that my destination was not Baxter Peak. I did meet some friends on that peak later, but spent most of my day on the North Peaks and Northwest Plateau trails - all alone and it was great! It was kinda funny - having people ask where I came from, and when I told them it was like I put a new idea in their heads.