Mt. Washington Summit via Pinnacle Gully in Huntington Ravine, White Mountain National Forest NH

Looking back on some pictures from late 2011 recently, I remembered details of the mountaineering I had done while welcoming 2012 during a holiday trip to New Hampshire with some of my New York climbing friends.

We had settled down at Harvard Cabin in the days before new years eve, just off the trail that leads to the Summit of Mt. Washington, the partying was already underway for the nearly 25 people that made the cabin their home that weekend.

This post will recap one of the hikes I did and ice climbing up a popular and iconic route — that lead to the summit — before we returned back down to Harvard cabin, after an exhilarating afternoon climbing.

Start of the Hike towards Climbing Route

When approaching the Base of Huntington Ravine via the trail from Harvard Cabin, carrying climbing gear, cold weather clothing, food and drink, it’s always a work-out, especially when it’s freezing.

Famous US Cartographer Bradford Washburn took several iconic aerial shots many years ago — of Mt. Washington. One example of his work can be seen here in black & white — and highlights the changing terrain with the bowl-like Ravines (Tuckerman’s and Huntington) meeting the Alpine Garden horizontal Plateau capped with the Mt. Washington Summit pyramid on top.

And in a place like Mt. Washington — which is known for some freakishly strong winds coupled with cold temperatures that combine to create extreme wind-chills (i.e. -40F, -60F, -70F, etc…), the dangers of Ice Climbing here are multiplied due to potential extreme weather conditions.

Luckily on January 1st 2012 — starting the new year right — we didn’t encounter such weather but on the way down from the summit in the evening — *nearly 70mph gusts made the freezing temperatures feel a lot colder — yet we leaned into the wind yelling “YEAHHHH! and WHOOOO!!” at the fun of it all.

*Weather history can be found on Mt. Washington Weather Observatory history logs.

Rewind to earlier in the day on the way up from Harvard cabin, the above view can be seen as the base of Huntington Ravine is reached from the trail. At that point our 4 person group split into two climbing teams, one team going up Odells Gully, and Pavel and I heading up Pinnacle Gully — two of the several ice and mixed climbing routes in this ravine.

From this point the slope becomes steeper no matter which way you go up

As you leave the base of the bowl of the Ravine and look up towards its upper crater edge that surrounds roughly 180′ degrees of your forward-looking view, the majesty and intimidation of this place builds. In the middle of the photo at the bottom of the “V” shape that forms — is the base of Pinnacle gully — which extends upwards towards the left and forms the sharp buttress (the pointy peak in the middle of the top of the photo).

Shortly afterward as we continued higher — fog quickly passed through — and I zoomed into two climbers from another party — ahead of us, that had just reached that junction point where central gully and Pinnacle gully meets — to form the bottom of the described “V” shape, below is the zoomed-in picture:

The picture above is from just below the entrance of Pinnacle gully — where we prepared to anchor the first pitch as seen in the picture here below.

At the base and start of Pinnacle gully — at the point you can longer climb without at least two ice-axes and crampons — we prepared the nearly 60 meter climbing rope for the first pitch. Here we placed protection and ice screws into a large wall of solid blue ice — the screws act as an anchor to hold onto the ice, and for me to belay the leader (and for my own protection) using the rope which ran through a carabiner attached to the screw, and which I would later remove as I got belayed up by the leader from the top (he also free-climbed or soloed up a few of the pitches with no protection as he led the way).

The picture below is looking nearly straight up to the zenith point in the overhead sky from the base of the first pitch in the above picture.

This was my first time ice climbing — let-alone-up a ravine!, it was quite scary when the occasional piece of baseball-size ice that came zooming down at 80mph along with a loud yell of “ICE!!!” from the climbers higher above — added to the reality of how dangerous this could be.

Otherwise, looking up at this beautiful view felt miraculous that such a place existed. I kept the focus on trusting the gear, and the leader, and paying attention to details and staying focused on the climbing and getting to the top. Deep and controlled breathing and staying positive and even having fun with it.

My climbing partner lead the first pitch up

While I belayed from the first anchor which included several ice screws equalized so that a potential strain on the rope would be equally distributed to the screws to lessen the risk of a screw getting yanked out of the wall — which would defeat the purpose of the screw in the first place — as they are used to offer reliable protection (when placed correctly and considering the ice quality).

This is one reason multiple screws may be used, but it depends on other things like ice quality, temperatures, weather and other factors. The lead climber paused every 10 yards or so to place additional screws that his rope would then be passed into through the opening link in the carabiner attached to the screw. I would later take these screws out as I climbed up — so we could re-use them subsequently higher and since we weren’t coming back down this way (plus those screws cost over $35 each!).

The first pitch on Pinnacle Gully is the hardest part of the entire route

Grade III- IV rated, and after that there is a less steep pitch that typically sees snow accumulate over the ice waterfall, pictured above, Pavel the lead climber took this picture, as I ascended the last bit of the first pitch, where we would re-coil the rope and prepare for the next pitch higher — seen below:

This picture shows the part where the ice resumes after the less steep snow packed section with the deep footsteps left by the lead climber, however, this slope is steeper than it appears — notice the cloud overhead and how this picture is taken looking nearly straight up. It’s not a vertical pitch by any means, grade II-III at most, yet the jagged overhanging attributes of the gully (from both sides) add to the feeling of exposure.

The last bit seems to go by very quickly, partly due to the excitement of finishing the last pitch and completing the climb, and also the way the climb tops-off with the accumulating snow drift and start of the waterfall — creates the effect of a mini ravine at the head of where pinnacle gully forms from the top.

After topping off over the buttress we hiked towards its tip to get this picture after conquering Pinnacle gully. Captures both the excitement and inclement weather in the background! See the reaction of the lead climber below:

From this point once you climb up Pinnacle, all routes up Huntington Ravine meet with the Alpine Garden plateau, a long stretch of horizontal flat lands that resemble a huge garden with the occasional and rare alpine shrub barely visible under the snow, cracked-ice or growing between rocks.

This place is vast, and in low-visibility conditions (i.e. dense fog) only using a operable GPS device/ compass and/or strong sense of orienteering and following the large Cairn pileup can help finding the path to escape via Lion’s Head Winter-trail back down towards safety. In our case, we were heading higher towards the summit of Mt. Washington, and took a short-cut straight towards the top from the Alpine garden as the visibility was excellent as the Sun was preparing to set.

Above Alpine Garden towards higher elevation the slope starts to gradually steepen towards Mt. Washington’s summit (behind me towards the left) in this photo — where I stopped to adjust gear and catch my breath. Shortly afterward I was lagging behind Pavel who snapped this picture below that depicts the Large Cairn in the Alpine Garden behind us, and the miniature alpine shrubs as we passed above tree-line, and above the clouds.

*Navigation tip: Following a straight line from one cairn towards and through the next cairn will generally lead towards the third cairn — when the path is in one direction — like in the Alpine Garden (in cases where visibility is poor). This process can be repeated while maintaining orientation of the bearings of the last two cairn in order to find the third one further ahead (and while paying attention to clues on the floor of the trail).

This stretch above Alpine Garden was the hardest for me as it gradually becomes steeper towards the summit — and was the most strenuous part as the we tried to keep a fast pace as the sun fast approached the horizon, and the twilight approached — adding to the need to get to the summit and back down to saftey before it got too dark.

After a few pictures on the summit, we were quick to descend as the sun had already set and the mercury was dropping fast along with increasing winds, by the time we were nearing the top crest of Tuckerman ravine — where the winter-Lion’s Head trail intersects, winds were gusting powerfully with max gusts recorded by the observatory at 70mph according the logs in retrospect.

I remember laughing and leaning into the wind on the descent — which with clumpy crampons and size 47 La Sportiva boots on — is always dangerously fun. Interestingly, the wind and cold brought clear visibility so navigating down the trail even in the dark was easy. Here Pavel took a picture of me by the Tuckerman ravine sign just under the summit before we descended back to Harvard cabin.

Preparedness, Preparedness, Preparedness and then Fun

Mt. Washington is never to be taken lightly, one must never rely on weather reports, always expect zero visibility and take appropriate GPS, backup maps, navigation tools — such as at least two compasses, and always know where you are roughly on the map — because the map and compasses are pointless unless you know your approximate position on the map (GPS can help — but even that can fail). You can never be “too prepared” for this mountain, instead you MUST always climb being “too prepared” with all the necessary worst-case-scenario gear, because it can get that bad fast!

I rather have a heavy pack and move slower, than forgo essentials for the sake of time or effort. Plus the extra preparation could help rescue or save others who are in need — and/or less prepared.

EMS Mountain Guide David David Lottmann of NEalpinestart.com gave me the best packlist advice — before my first trip which was during a fall hike trip — even mentioning for me to bring an extra pair of goggles! That’s when I knew it was serious, and keep in mind that everything needs to be easily accessible as far as useable gear and clothing (it’s no good if it’s at the bottom of your pack and you need it urgently).

Something as tedious as opening a zipper — could be very difficult in with minus 40F windchill when its gusting 90mph, and with numb fingers. Preparation, anticipation, and fool-proof navigation is essential here.

Research and Plan in advance

Always check with the park rangers, and locals on conditions and share your climbing plans, and never travel alone — or without an emergency satellite beacon. Otherwise, with the right planning and guidance, climbing Mt. Washington can be an unforgettable experience — pulling you back for more.

Video Footage from Pinnacle Gully

Watch a video of this climbing day and some clips from that weekend compiled into this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMVt9M5p4Vk

Another great Video of different weather conditions of Pinnacle on a different occasion with a different climber joining Pavel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cauj8GHcQvI