da rules
this was forwarded to me...thought I'd share...-michael
Q. What determines a winter ascent?
A. It is not simply a matter of dates on your household calendar (e.g. Dec 21st to March 20th). The criteria established by Miriam Underhill, the inventor of the Winter Four-Thousand-Footer Game is more exact: trips must begin after the hour and minute of the beginning of winter (winter solstice), and end before the hour and minute of the end of winter (spring equinox). In the US edition of her book, Give me the Hills, Miriam Underhill is even more specific, as she writes:
This game was an offshoot, of course, of that very popular game of the Appalachian Mountain Club, Climbing the Four-thousanders, which was set in motion, and such vigorous and enthusiastic motion, in 1958. Our game —"ours" because we were the first to play it— followed right along. As the initiators we set the rules, which concerned the definition of "winter". "Snow on the ground" and other namby-pamby criteria definitely did not count. "Winter" was to be measured exclusively by the calendar. In 1960, for instance, winter began at 3:27 PM on Wednesday, December 21, too late to get up to Crag Camp by daylight.
