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As well reported two months ago and discussed to some extent here, she had neither a tent, a bivy sack nor a sleeping bag, only a day pack. She was traveling light, yes, which I think was appropriate given her skill and conditioning level, until she got back to Madison Hut. Peakbagger's...

Well and good, but for the fact that she was solo. From what I've read, with few exceptions, world class mountaineers subject themselves to conditions of the sort which prevailed in the Presidentials on February 15-16 in well-coordinated, well-geared groups, not solo with a daypack. I doubt Ed...

The best speculation I saw a month ago about her pace was from peakbagger, who noted that in the high winds, she'd've been breaking trail in a lot of snow all the way up to treeline and probably beyond. That likely slowed her down a good bit. Difficulty of trail-finding and more trail-breaking...

It is painful, this story. The ignorance point is key here. The Whites are a cantankerous lot of mountains, and it takes time to get a feel for them, to understand them. Countless devotees of the Whites, many of them at Kate's level of physical conditioning, many well below, seeing the...

Awesome. The smile on her face says it all.

The previous summit of Madison by her and her husband is also a key bit of new information. The rationalist libertarian streak in me says, "OK, fine, you're strong. Give it a try, just don't be stupid." As in, go up to treeline, check it out, and if it's brutal, turn back. Or even summit Madison...

Man, that is heartbreaking. She continues to weigh on minds and hearts.

Hmm. Hadn't heard of this 'til now. Thanks for the tip, B.

That's a great pic, Chip. The closest I've gotten to real winter peril out hiking was on Pico Peak January 19, 2013. High winds, gusting to 45ish, temps around 10-15 F. I was highly bundled, and well equipped, but solo. Was running low on daylight and daunted by the howling of the NW wind and a...

Chuckle. They're good at that. Did conditions improve significantly with elevation loss, or only once you hit treeline?

That's textbook quality, I think. Thanks so much for sharing your experience, hb.

That's a cool story - which way did you descend? Ammo? Crawford/Edmands? I loved maps before I hiked, love 'em even more now.

This thread is for people to share their stories of how they successfully got out of white-out winter conditions and safely onto followable trail sheltered by trees or terrain, or otherwise to safety. How well had you trained and prepared for this eventuality? What techniques did you use? Were...

Thinking about this, as I sometimes think about the winter storm above tree-line scenario, I think of all the tools and resources one can call on during the situation. Which leads to a question: if the wind whipping up the snow and causing white-out is from a consistent direction, does anyone...

Is this still the case? I was thinking, with so much southern exposure, the road up Equinox might be an early route to thaw out and thus minimize the ice/snow experience on a significant New England peak in early to mid spring.

In my experience in Vermont, it's always mud season over there. My first Stratton Mtn hike, in October 2010, was much muddier than my second, in mid May 2012. I follow the trail reports and judge from there. Meanwhile, to the point of my OP, c'mon, folks! No one willing to have some over-under...

I picked 4250 b/c above that number, you start to get above treeline, so the snow would tend to have melted there sooner than under the shade of trees. I'm looking for "Can you hike it safely without spikes or boots," and I have a high threshold for "safely."

So it's been a persistent bear of a winter this year. Understanding that this is guesswork, I'm still curious to hear from any here who care to venture their best guesses for the following questions: How soon will south-facing, wooded slopes be substantially snow-free to 4250 or so? How about...

Update: My vertigo had all but vanished by Tuesday, but made an unpleasant return Wednesday and Thursday, with a nasty flare-up Friday afternoon. Got a dr appt on short notice - had scheduled one for next Thurs - and it was confirmed I have, most likely, a garden variety case of malfunctioning...

You may have heard this, Mike, but news reports a couple weeks ago indicated that two major adjustments have been made with respect to the "standard" Nepalese route through the Khumbu Icefall: 1) helicopters will pack all supplies needed above base camp to the first camp above the ice fall to...