Freedom of the New England Hills

[hikerbrian]

Here's a topic I've been thinking about for some time: at what point can you claim to have "The Freedom of the Hills" in New England? By that I mean at what point does one have the experience and technical expertise to tackle almost any objective in New England? What are the classic routes that one must complete in good style to claim that Freedom?

Obviously this is ridiculously subjective, but for me this thought exercise has always helped to focus my efforts on my own shortcomings as an outdoorsman, and to foster the greatest growth potential.

There are no "rules" to this exercise - in fact, it should be a rather personal reflection. The only suggestion I'll make is to refrain from, "I have done X, Y, and Z, and therefore I'm so much more hardcore than you." Let's refrain from spraying and see where this goes. I'm sure there are objectives I haven't considered in New England, so maybe this will spark some new trip ideas. Here is my list, in no particular order:

1. Winter presi-traverse as a backpack (i.e. no waiting for a single perfect weather day and running across - which is also a great accomplishment, but to me does not reflect the degree of challenge inherent with the equivalent multi-day backpack).
2. Summiting Washington via any of the ice routes in Huntington Ravine, having lead at least one pitch.
3. Whitney G or Moby Grape on Cannon Cliff, having lead at least one pitch.
4. Baxter Peak and the Knife's Edge in Winter.
5. Any loop that requires 5 days or more in Winter, such as a rich Pemi Loop. By this I mean one must show they have a winter system capable of keeping them comfortable for at least 5 days. It's not about mileage necessarily, but about managing moisture and food.

I feel that anyone who has completed this short list can call themselves a Mountaineer, at least by New England standards. Even though it's a short list, each of these requires a substantial amount of preparation, likely over a period of years. I suppose this is a bucket list of sorts. Anyone else have other thoughts or additions?

 

[Bob]

Mt. Monadnock?

 

[iagreewithjamie]

Good list.
Before I read your suggested list, the first three things that popped into my mind were: 1) Huntington in winter and summer, 2) Moby Grape, and 3) Winter Presi traverse. So I agree with your suggestions

You do leave out bushwhacking. Some type of "straight-line" multi-day hike... like from Lincoln to Guyot going down Lincoln Slide, over OH, up W Bond.
Maybe Devil's Path in the Catskills would suffice as being "hardcore" enough to make the Freedom list.
I find that there are people on here who can do distance, ropes, class 5 climbs, etc. but will never step foot off of a trail into the unblazed woods.

Trap Dike should be in there as well, even though it isn't technically New England.

 

[hikerbrian]

A bushwhack is an excellent suggestion, definitely an oversight on my first list. I even quite like your actual route suggestion. Consider it added!

Does Trap Dike test any skill that Huntington does not? I'm not terribly familiar with the 'Daks.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

6) Must obtain a physician's certification that testosterone toxicity has not reached a level known to obliterate all judgment and common sense.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

6) Must obtain a physician's certification that testosterone toxicity has not reached a level known to obliterate all judgment and common sense.

Wouldn't number 5 take care of this? And on the subject of number 5, it seems like the number of days is fairly arbitrary, and you could collapse #1 and #5 into a single goal. If you're going to spend 5 days (and please note I am not a backpacker or camper), the Pemi Loop has many more options for shelter without significant elevation loss, than the Presie Traverse.

Tim
p.s. The winter PT is on my bucket list... single day, nice weather, run-across variety

 

[TJsName]

Interesting. I consider myself to be 'advanced', but not an expert. The things I think that separate myself from the experts are:

1.) Experience navigating above treeline in zero visibility (summer or winter). This requires one to know how to use a map/compass/GPS when it counts.
2.) Experience with mutli-day winter backpack trips. This requires one to know how to manage heat and moisture, as well as use a much wider set of tools.
3.) Experience with bushwhacking. This requires one to know how to navigate and read the woods - slightly different than being above treeline.
4.) Extensive knowledge of flora and fauna. What you can eat, what you can't. Alternative uses. Etc.

I would say that a winter presi traverse using non-standard routes would qualify. Maybe heading up through the via Dry River wilderness with a bushwhack, then up through Oakes Gulf, over the big 4, then down Buttress and out through the Great Gulf?

I don't think that ice and rock climbing are on the list as those are distinct sports. Are there many places in NH that are only accessible by climbing?

 

[Puma concolor]

Freedom of the Hills is only attained when you go wherever you aspire to go with no regard for what anyone else thinks of it. Freedom from Ego is attained only when you speak of it to no one. Current list of completers stands at 0.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Freedom of the Hills is only attained when you go wherever you aspire to go with no regard for what anyone else thinks of it. Freedom from Ego is attained only when you speak of it to no one. Current list of completers stands at 0.

Now we're getting somewhere.

 

[Tom_Murphy]

Is it The Freedom of the New England Hills list or is it The Complete New England Walker list or both?

rock climbing, ice climbing, and winter backpacking? what about bushcraft? LNT?

I think a list of skills is a better way to approach this. And then which skills are required for which trips.

For example, a multi day winter Presi traverse has been a goal of mine for a number of years. I think I need to learn to self arrest (and buy a an axe and crampons but I don't think I need to learn Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue to do it.

 

[peakbagger]

Freedom of the hills qualification should include the ability to do any outdoor activity but the wisdom to know that some days its best to stay home.

A local climbing guide that used to offer winter multiday guided presidential traverses, would occasionally call them off when the conditions were outside of certain limits. One year I think he had to postpone three in a row.

 

[Chugach001]

I support the addition of bushwhacking.

Also suggest at least one forced winter bivy. I felt great freedom after realizing there is a big divide between misery and death and I only needed to fear that latter.

 

[TJsName]

Freedom of the Hills is only attained when you go wherever you aspire to go with no regard for what anyone else thinks of it. Freedom from Ego is attained only when you speak of it to no one. Current list of completers stands at 0.

If the rule is you cannot speak about it to anyone, then I would argue the list of completers is unknown.

 

[Chip]

Good subject.

For me it would be having the gear, experience and physical fitness to walk off into the mountains at any time, in any weather condition for almost any duration of time.
Years ago I told my wife if anything weird happens I'm hitting up that gear display at the I91 rest-stop in Brattleboro and heading into the Pemi .

 

[hikerbrian]

Some thoughtful replies here, good stuff. Tim- sure, a 5-day winter Presi-traverse would certainly prove that one was capable of staying out for an extended period in poor conditions, which is what I was getting at, I think. Personally, I think I'd feel like I was trying to fit a square peg in a round hole though. It's really a 3-4 day route, and the chances of getting 5 days of travelable weather seems pretty slim to me. Well, even getting a 3-day window is fairly low POS. In any case, 5 days in the Presis would provide a lot of growth potential, which is what this list is about (for me).

Tom_Murphy- great points/questions. I'm calling it the Freedom of the New England Hills, after the classic mountaineering tome. The idea is still only half-baked in my head, but Freedom of the Hills has chapters on each of the classic mountaineering skills - rock and ice climbing, steep snow, scrambling, cold weather camping, and others. Even though the Whites are not especially tall, you can learn and practice a surprising number of these skills in our humble mountains. It's not only a great destination in and of itself, it's a great training ground if one wants to venture off into bigger ranges around the world. This list, I think, is my attempt at capturing the largest requisite skill set in the minimum number of objectives/trips. If one can safely (in good style) complete this small number of trips, one is likely capable of safely tackling many, many classic routes all around the world.

Now, one could certainly combine all of these skills into a single, very long outing. But I can't think of a route that accomplishes that and still feels like a classic. All of the ways I can think of to shove all of the skills into a single outing just spells suffer-fest to me.

So, by your approach, one could ask, "What are all of the skills that one is capable of obtaining in New England?" Then, "What minimum number of classic trips provides a test of each of those skills?" It's really an elegant way of developing this list, thanks for the thoughts.

Chip- I like your thought as well, a little different than what I was getting at, but definitely an interesting way to frame the challenge.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I guess my question was more about "Why do you have both the multi-day winter Presi Traverse and the multi day Pemi Loop?" And why did you pick the number 5 for the latter? Isn't the point about skills for handling that sub-optimal weather day or two that will likely accompany a 5-day excursion? And wouldn't it be more challenging in the Presis above treeline?

I get what you are saying about forcing it, and maybe that's reason enough for you.

Do you remember Mats Roing? And do you remember his winter Pemi loop attempt in a blizzard? This was, ostensibly, training for Denali.

Maybe another way to look at it is to list some of the goals outside New England and then pick something in New England that would offer the chance to exercise the same skills.

Or is this more of the "ultimate New England mountaineering bucket list"?

Tim

 

[iagreewithjamie]

Do you remember Mats Roing? And do you remember his winter Pemi loop attempt in a blizzard? This was, ostensibly, training for Denali.

Thanks for posting that link, Tim. Interesting story.
One thing I found particularly funny was something you posted in that thread 5 years ago:
With all the recent talk about 'negligence' and recovering costs for rescues, I can't help but wonder if A. Reasonable Person would have thought you negligent for even leaving.

Sound familiar?

 

[hikerbrian]

No, the number 5 isn't completely arbitrary, it represents a cutoff (to me): fewer days than that and many can suffer through it with a suboptimal system of heat and moisture management. But with 4 or more nights, you really need to have your system dialed or you'll bail before you get that far. I don't really see what Mats' trip has in common with this list I'm proposing, can you elaborate on your thoughts?

Also, I'm not really proposing an ultimate mountaineering list, that list would have more than 6 objectives and many of them would cover the same skills. For this list, the purpose is to be brutally non-repetitive, to constantly force one's self to be on the steep part of the learning curve. In my mind, not one of these items is something that any given person off the street can just walk up and do. Each of them requires commitment and practice on easier stuff, with the goal of eventually checking an item off the list - when it can be done in good style. When you can do all of the items on the list, you've earned the Freedom of the New England Hills.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

With all the recent talk about 'negligence' and recovering costs for rescues, I can't help but wonder if A. Reasonable Person would have thought you negligent for even leaving.

Sound familiar?

Oh, very familiar. I got a bit of flak for asking honest, if somewhat pointed, questions. I thought about reviving that thread in the current hikesafe thread - as an example that many reasonable people might think went too far.

Tim

 

[bikehikeskifish]

No, the number 5 isn't completely arbitrary, it represents a cutoff (to me): fewer days than that and many can suffer through it with a suboptimal system of heat and moisture management. But with 4 or more nights, you really need to have your system dialed or you'll bail before you get that far.

OK, not being a backpacker, I haven't dealt with this, so I can accept that 4 nights is somehow a reasonable cutoff.

I don't really see what Mats' trip has in common with this list I'm proposing, can you elaborate on your thoughts?

It was an example of an extreme trip in extreme conditions - something you could expect to encounter over the course of a multi-day trip in winter. I.e., should your list include a trip of that magnitude under such extreme conditions.

Also, I'm not really proposing an ultimate mountaineering list, that list would have more than 6 objectives and many of them would cover the same skills. For this list, the purpose is to be brutally non-repetitive, to constantly force one's self to be on the steep part of the learning curve. In my mind, not one of these items is something that any given person off the street can just walk up and do. Each of them requires commitment and practice on easier stuff, with the goal of eventually checking an item off the list - when it can be done in good style.

I liked what was said earlier about the skills. Is your original list in order of increasing difficulty (or order of required skills)?

When you can do all of the items on the list, you've earned the Freedom of the New England Hills.

Is there a patch for that? As you say, this is completely subjective.

I often think about how far I want to take the hiking thing... maybe the winter 67, possibly the winter ADKs and/or NE115. What keeps me from doing that is mostly time, rather than skills. I wouldn't mind trying the backpacking thing - but I think I would like to do so with one or both of my kids and neither of them is remotely interested at this time (not necessarily winter...)

Interesting thread idea, however, and not one I can remember having seen before.

Tim