WINTER HIKING THE PRESIDENTIALS New England’s Greatest Mountaineering Challenge By Lily Hartman
“A winter traverse of the Presidential Range is the most coveted—and riskiest—mountaineering feat in the Northeast.” — Backpacker Magazine
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he Presidential traverse attracts hikers and climbers alike for its highly technical and rewarding terrain, wide open views, and dreamy ridges. The traverse stretches about 18 miles over nine classified 4,000 footers: Mount Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Clay, Washington, Monroe, Franklin, Eisenhower, and Pierce; while the extended version adds two more miles with Jackson and Webster. On this traverse, hikers are exposed above treeline for 11 miles, gain anywhere between 9,000 to 10,000 feet of elevation, and are exposed to potentially high winds and extreme weather conditions at any time of year. “The greatest high adventure in the East is crossing the Presidential Range in the winter,” says Bill Aughton, a co-found62
er of International Mountain Equipment (IME) in North Conway, who has been teaching SOLO Wilderness Medicine on and off for 40 years. Corey Fitzgerald, a co-founder of Northeast Mountaineering (NME) and mountain guide, set out on a winter traverse early in his hiking career, where he and other hikers present lost the trail toward the end, right by Mount Eisenhower and Pierce, since it wasn’t broken in yet with snowshoes. For two hours, they floundered through the snow and were sinking up to their chest. “It was kind of desperate,” he says. “We were crawling across the top of the snow on our bellies [to keep from sinking].” During the winter months, hikers should expect deep snow, temperatures
below zero degrees Fahrenheit, unexpected low visibility, and extremely high winds. In fact, wind speeds in this range during the winter reach 100 miles per hour once every four days on average, according to The Wild Outsiders™, a company run by two outdoor adventurers who provide helpful information on all things outdoors. At 60 miles per hour, “for most people, you can put your arms out to your sides, lean into it, and the wind will pretty much hold you up,” says Brian Fitzgerald, the director of education at Mount Washington Observatory (MWOBS). “That’s a lot of force.” Brian Fitzgerald explains why the weather can change so suddenly from ideal conditions to rapid winds and frigid MWVvibe.com