Yesterday Torontonians Julia & Adam came down from Canada to attempt Mount Washington. They graciously brought with them our first real winter weather.

With a strong desire to become well outfitted and self-reliant winter climbers we spent about an hour in the morning focused on gear concerns. From face masks to ice axes we went over everything before hopping in our vehicles and heading to the trail-head.

During our climb up to the Summer Lion’s Head Trail we talked about everything from proper nutrition and layering strategies to frostbite treatment and high altitude medical issues. Adam is definitely on track to take a Wilderness First Responder course in his future.

Conditions above treeline were relatively pleasant with manageable wind chill & visibility. We pushed on to Lions Head.

Our later than average start had us reach Lion’s Head at 1:30pm. We knew we couldn’t summit and get back down the steeps before dark, so we decided to push on to the Alpine Garden Trail to get a little more time above tree-line before heading down.

We made our way back down and stopped on one of the steeper sections of the trail to learn & practice the “arm-wrap rappel”, a great way to descend 3rd & some 4th class terrain.

Julie & Adam are definitely an adventurous mother & son duo. I look forward to the next time I get to climb with them!