Date(s) Skied: Sunday, January 16th, 2011
Resort or Ski Area: Mount Whittier, NH (nelsap)
Conditions: Sunny, mid 20s, beautiful day, 14 or so inches of pow.......should've brought a chainsaw
Trip Report:
So, today was my maiden 'touring' voyage. I bough some Marker Dukes last year and some skins and didn't get around to using them. I figured MLK weekend, why not take a day away from the crowds and take a shot at touring.
I had driven by Mount Whittier numerous times over the past several years and decided to drive up there this morning to earn some turns.
When it comes to skiing places you don't much hear about, there's usually one of three reasons.
A. It's still unknown
B. It's great and people want to keep it secret
C. It sucks and isn't worth bothering with.
File Mount Whittier under C
I didn't have much to go on for how I was going to approach Mt. Whittier other than the info from nelsap. I looked at the picture below and figured I'd try an pick my way along the unmarked trail at the top of the slope marked 1
I got to the base of Mt. Whittier at 8AM and took a photo of the old gondola line still in tact across route 16. It looked well grown in (mountain closed in 1985), but there might be a slot or two in there, if not the lookers right ridge might have something for me.
I drove up the road to the parking lot right around the C in the top photo. Rements of the old ski area, but not much left.
As I was booting up in the parking lot, this big burly beard guy steps out from a building next to the one pictured above and asks what I'm doing. I said I was going to hike up and ski the mountain. He said, no can do. Owners Insurance company says people need to keep out.
shit
then he says......but, if you head down the road 100 yards, you'll see a trail head. Follow that and you can head up, just don't say I told you about it. (whoops, guess I am right here)
I put my skins on and hit a trail through the woods and then found an even wider trail, which is what I assume he was referring to.
I was suprised how well skins grab the snow. It took a bit of getting used to, but I was moving right along. Figured hell, maybe I'll make it up this hill in an hour and take more than one run. Then it started to get steep. The below photo doesn't do it justice, but it made more sense to throw the skis on my pack and hike. I wasn't slipping backwards, but booting it seemed to be the better travel mode.
As the path got steeper it got narrower. Eventually it got the point where it appeared like a fork. I decided to go left back towards the Gondola line figuring it would ascend the ridge I was looking at in the initial photo. I boot packed along for a fair bit of time attacking the incline at a diagnol for several hundred yards. The trail got smaller and smaller and smaller and then nothing. Guess I was on a deer run or something instead of an actual trail.
crap
Because I had traveled so far, rather than turn back I figured I'd pick my way through until I got to the gondola liftline hoping to find a clearer path up it. At this point, it was full on bushwacking, skis off my pack due to getting hung up in branches, total mess.
eventually I hit the gondola 'liftline'. there was none
http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=11716&cat=1315
looking up, my lense is starting to get foggy from me becoming soaked in sweat and snow falling all around me. You can see ways to make it up, but it's getting tougher and tougher with many more rock ledges to crawl up as you ascend.
http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=11717&cat=1315
Eventually I got tired of going up the liftline and figure maybe I should try and pick my way back towards the actual 'trail' that's supposed to go to the summit according to parking lot bearded man.
I spent the next two hours zig zagging and crawling up and over terrain like the photo below. It was utter hell. Trying to negotiate it all in ski boots, with skis on you shoulders, sweating like crazy, falling down and smashing your knees and elbows on rocks and downed trees, falling into deep pockets of snow between ledges. At this point of my journey I'm pretty much praying that I don't break a bone and actually make it out of there in one piece. I'm by myself, but have a cell phone, my wife knows where I am, but it was frickin hairy.
Finally after 2 plus hours of literally throwing my skis up the hill and crawling up the mountainside I do eventually reach the 'trail' I initially started out on and right near the summit. I was literally 100 vert below the top tower and said eff it. There was still some rock scrambling to get there and as much as I wanted to, my will was broken to try and scramble over even one more rock in ski boots while holding my skis on my shoulder. I snapped a photo of Cranomore in the distance and started my ski down..
I'd Hardly call it skiing as by this point I felt like I got beat up by Mike Tyson for 12 rounds, but I was able to pick my whole way down the mountain. I had plenty of turns in kneed deep fluff, but it was a major struggle for me and hard to call it 'fun' given what I went through to earn those turns.
The ski down was on a six to eight foot wide trail that in parts felt like a riverbed. It was super rocky and sketchy in a lot of places despite the recent big snows. You could kind of see where old trails might have been, but it was all pretty much grown in. It's no wonder Mt. Whittier closed not having any snowmaking. The terrain is super rocky and every where I went over that hill today, I thought how the hell was there ever a ski area here?
Only things that would let you know it was a ski area at one time was the old lift relics:
So, yeah, kind of weird posting such a long trip report about a day of total Misery trying to ski. It was an extremely humbling experience. This was not back country per se. Just an old ski area right next to one of New Hampshires busiest roads. I've got pretty decent equipment. I ski well. I got my ass absolutely handed to me though. I fell a lot hiking up smashing my knees, hips, elbows, shoulders.
Completely humbling experience. I had high hopes of a great first 'tour' and got slaughtered. I have a lot greater respect for it though as to how I choose to prepare and where I'll go for my next non-lift serviced skiing experience.
Resort or Ski Area: Mount Whittier, NH (nelsap)
Conditions: Sunny, mid 20s, beautiful day, 14 or so inches of pow.......should've brought a chainsaw
Trip Report:
So, today was my maiden 'touring' voyage. I bough some Marker Dukes last year and some skins and didn't get around to using them. I figured MLK weekend, why not take a day away from the crowds and take a shot at touring.
I had driven by Mount Whittier numerous times over the past several years and decided to drive up there this morning to earn some turns.
When it comes to skiing places you don't much hear about, there's usually one of three reasons.
A. It's still unknown
B. It's great and people want to keep it secret
C. It sucks and isn't worth bothering with.
File Mount Whittier under C
I didn't have much to go on for how I was going to approach Mt. Whittier other than the info from nelsap. I looked at the picture below and figured I'd try an pick my way along the unmarked trail at the top of the slope marked 1
I got to the base of Mt. Whittier at 8AM and took a photo of the old gondola line still in tact across route 16. It looked well grown in (mountain closed in 1985), but there might be a slot or two in there, if not the lookers right ridge might have something for me.
I drove up the road to the parking lot right around the C in the top photo. Rements of the old ski area, but not much left.
As I was booting up in the parking lot, this big burly beard guy steps out from a building next to the one pictured above and asks what I'm doing. I said I was going to hike up and ski the mountain. He said, no can do. Owners Insurance company says people need to keep out.
shit
then he says......but, if you head down the road 100 yards, you'll see a trail head. Follow that and you can head up, just don't say I told you about it. (whoops, guess I am right here)
I put my skins on and hit a trail through the woods and then found an even wider trail, which is what I assume he was referring to.
I was suprised how well skins grab the snow. It took a bit of getting used to, but I was moving right along. Figured hell, maybe I'll make it up this hill in an hour and take more than one run. Then it started to get steep. The below photo doesn't do it justice, but it made more sense to throw the skis on my pack and hike. I wasn't slipping backwards, but booting it seemed to be the better travel mode.
As the path got steeper it got narrower. Eventually it got the point where it appeared like a fork. I decided to go left back towards the Gondola line figuring it would ascend the ridge I was looking at in the initial photo. I boot packed along for a fair bit of time attacking the incline at a diagnol for several hundred yards. The trail got smaller and smaller and smaller and then nothing. Guess I was on a deer run or something instead of an actual trail.
crap
Because I had traveled so far, rather than turn back I figured I'd pick my way through until I got to the gondola liftline hoping to find a clearer path up it. At this point, it was full on bushwacking, skis off my pack due to getting hung up in branches, total mess.
eventually I hit the gondola 'liftline'. there was none
http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=11716&cat=1315
looking up, my lense is starting to get foggy from me becoming soaked in sweat and snow falling all around me. You can see ways to make it up, but it's getting tougher and tougher with many more rock ledges to crawl up as you ascend.
http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=11717&cat=1315
Eventually I got tired of going up the liftline and figure maybe I should try and pick my way back towards the actual 'trail' that's supposed to go to the summit according to parking lot bearded man.
I spent the next two hours zig zagging and crawling up and over terrain like the photo below. It was utter hell. Trying to negotiate it all in ski boots, with skis on you shoulders, sweating like crazy, falling down and smashing your knees and elbows on rocks and downed trees, falling into deep pockets of snow between ledges. At this point of my journey I'm pretty much praying that I don't break a bone and actually make it out of there in one piece. I'm by myself, but have a cell phone, my wife knows where I am, but it was frickin hairy.
Finally after 2 plus hours of literally throwing my skis up the hill and crawling up the mountainside I do eventually reach the 'trail' I initially started out on and right near the summit. I was literally 100 vert below the top tower and said eff it. There was still some rock scrambling to get there and as much as I wanted to, my will was broken to try and scramble over even one more rock in ski boots while holding my skis on my shoulder. I snapped a photo of Cranomore in the distance and started my ski down..
I'd Hardly call it skiing as by this point I felt like I got beat up by Mike Tyson for 12 rounds, but I was able to pick my whole way down the mountain. I had plenty of turns in kneed deep fluff, but it was a major struggle for me and hard to call it 'fun' given what I went through to earn those turns.
The ski down was on a six to eight foot wide trail that in parts felt like a riverbed. It was super rocky and sketchy in a lot of places despite the recent big snows. You could kind of see where old trails might have been, but it was all pretty much grown in. It's no wonder Mt. Whittier closed not having any snowmaking. The terrain is super rocky and every where I went over that hill today, I thought how the hell was there ever a ski area here?
Only things that would let you know it was a ski area at one time was the old lift relics:
So, yeah, kind of weird posting such a long trip report about a day of total Misery trying to ski. It was an extremely humbling experience. This was not back country per se. Just an old ski area right next to one of New Hampshires busiest roads. I've got pretty decent equipment. I ski well. I got my ass absolutely handed to me though. I fell a lot hiking up smashing my knees, hips, elbows, shoulders.
Completely humbling experience. I had high hopes of a great first 'tour' and got slaughtered. I have a lot greater respect for it though as to how I choose to prepare and where I'll go for my next non-lift serviced skiing experience.