The coolest climb

Winter conditions add to the risk and the exhilaration of hiking in the high mountains

December 27, 2009|Mark Arsenault, Globe Correspondent

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I own stiff, 12-point mountaineering crampons. Nothing gives more confidence on ice. But they’re awkward on bare rock, and not the best gear for early-season mixed conditions, snow and windswept granite.

White recommended elastic microspikes by Kahtoola. My set was $59 at REI. Out of the box they look like punk rock jellyfish in spikes and chains, but they stretched comfortably over our boots and provided good traction. If you’re between sizes, buy the smaller pair.

We decided to save weight by leaving our snowshoes, which I briefly regretted at 4,000 feet. Snow drifts were belt-buckle deep. Post-holing for several hundred yards of steep mountainside is exhausting. But then we got above the treeline, where the wind had stripped off the deep stuff. Much of the snow that remained had been windblown onto boulders in delicate feather patterns, as if we were hiking among giant hibernating birds.

The wind beat relentlessly the last half-mile to the peak. “That wind’s incredible,’’ I shouted to Jennifer. She replied that she couldn’t believe I had forgotten the coffee.

The clouds began to break up. I snapped a bunch of pictures and had to remind myself to look around, too. You can’t appreciate the frozen alpine zone through a 2-inch viewfinder.

At the summit, every surface was encrusted in blown snow that bubbled like white coral. The wind hissed and tried to push us around until we huddled behind a boulder. The PowerBar I had warmed all day inside my clothes tasted as fine as filet mignon. After spending most of the day in fog, we finally could look down on the clouds.

Mark Arsenault can be reached at mark0079@comcast.net.