I’ve been wanting to do a winter hike in the high peaks for a couple of winters now. Last winter, err. .scratch that, spring Pete and I did a climb of Colden in April. It was snow covered the whole way but it was +22C under a hot sun. We sloshed our way through the slush in shorts and T-shirts and then enjoyed a cold beer on the patio in town before heading home. Not quite a winter ascent in any sense. This winter I again debated a winter hike… but procrastinated until finally it was the last full weekend of winter – now or never (or until next winter anyway). So Friday night I loaded my gear and set the alarm for 3:45. When the alarm went off I hedged some more. I would after all be missing out on some great spring skiing here in town which I could do if I slept a little longer… NO!! I’m going!! So I dragged myself out of bed, loaded up and drove down to Lake Placid. On the drive down I debated what to climb. Tried to avoid the peaks with big water crossings as they might be dicey at this time of year. Didn’t want to go to the southern part of the park – too long a drive. Finally settled on Gothics via Pyramid. A classic climb with a huge payoff on the summit of Pyramid.

Got to the AMR trailhead at 8 and was on my way a little after that. For those curious, the walk up the Lake road is no more exciting in winter than it is in summer… and I think it’s just about as long. It was a little cold at -8C but I knew it was to warm up considerably to +5C so I wasn’t too worried. Once across the dam I strapped on my snowshoes and started the climb up the Weld trail. Someone had been up it recently so it was an easy walk. Alas, once I got to the Sawteeth/Gothics col the tracks turned left and I was headed right. I had to break trail for the last mile (and 1200ft vert.) which proved challenging. The snow had a nice ½ layer of ice on the top and a sugary base. As things got steep (and they get very steep in that last mile) each step had two parts. First a heavy stomp of the snowshoe to break the ice and then another tromp to get the crampon to bite and propel myself forward. Add insult to injury in that my ski poles would periodically ricochet off the ice surface sending me sprawling forward. Made for some slow going but I finally topped out to the four star, double A+ vista at the top of Pyramid. Cloudless sky, warming sun, limitless view….. stunning.


After a little snack/photo break I made the last push up Gothics and met my first people of the day. They were wearing crampons and looked at my snowshoes like I was a non-swimmer in the deep end of the wave pool – "Sure you should be here son?" Okay they didn’t actually say it but that was their look. As I tromped/skidded along the frozen icy surface on top of Gothics (much thicker ice now) I realized they were exactly right and promptly switched over to crampons… which made everything easier. I wore them almost all of the rest of the day as I walked along the ridge trail and even as I went down before finally switching back to snowshoes in the valley when the snow started to get soft.

Off the summit of Gothics is a long narrow (ice covered) cornice. In summer you descend through a narrow trench of scrubby bush but in winter the trees were completely buried. Someone I met later on Armstrong said it best as he eagerly anticipated climbing up the cornice. “Climbing that lets you imagine you’re climbing something pretty exotic somewhere else in the world and not just here in the Adirondacks”. Not that the Adirondacks aren’t exotic… but I got his meaning. As I descended to the cornice another party of climbers was coming up. I was forced to wait my turn as there was only one lane to travel and steep, thousand foot, blissful (terminal) oblivion on either side. As I waited I was transported to the Hillary Step waiting for other climbers to clamber up while I waited my turn to descend to thicker air… Okay, at 4700 feet I’m hardly in Himalaya territory… but it was nice to dream for a minute or two. The dream came to a crashing end as the other climbers – a group of 20 something guys who had clearly never climbed before - marched up, constantly repeating that this was badass! (I’m somewhat paraphrasing their language here but they said it like 30 times). I think one of them also asked if I had a smoke… cause he left his in the car :(

Down the cornice I went and on to Armstrong which was an easy stroll along the ridge line. From there I decided to continue on via Upper Wolfjaw before heading down. Now in crampons the steep descents were mostly trivial (though the ladder in the steepest point was lost under the snow and ice). Finally the walk down to the valley and back to the car was a lovely spring walk(on snow) as the day had warmed up considerably. Alas, the walk out the Lake road was equally unenjoyable as it had been in the morning…. Although in fairness I was feeling pretty beat at that point and just longing to be done.

So I’m now a W3er and I can already hear you asking, “Kenmore, are you working towards you’re winter 46? Are you racing back next Saturday (last day of winter hiking) to bag a few more?” Whoa there, hang on, not exactly my plan. I can see doing a hike or two each winter but by no means am I rushing towards the winter 46 goal just yet. Although, at two peaks per winter maybe I should book my hotel room for 2030 to attend the winter 46rs season end banquet to receive my certificate…. Or maybe not. In fact my biggest heartbreak of the day was that it only occurred to me on the drive home that I had had a chance to “up” my 46S count (a snowman on each of the 46 high peaks)and totally forgotten to do so. Drat! It was kinda the wrong snow anyway so perhaps not all was lost.

Lessons learned
- Crampons aren’t just cool looking, they work great in icy conditions.
- There are no blackflies in March.I can't emphasize enough how this makes winter hiking attractive.
- The trapezius muscles will hate you for a long time if you take a long hike without wearing a heavy pack for 4 months – and they aren’t afraid to tell you so!
- High peak hiking in winter can be enjoyable but it has its own unique challenges.
- Winter is too short.
- Don’t stop to take pictures on a bridge over a creek. You are bound to drop your hiking poles in the water… and might not be lucky enough to fish them out (like me).