Are there any special considerations when hiking mountains that an amateur needs to take into account who's never done it before? What about in winter?
I plan to stick to the northeast US for right now so that should help.
Are there any special considerations when hiking mountains that an amateur needs to take into account who's never done it before?
Yes. Read a book.
Summer is vastly more forgiving in the mountains than winter. Hike some stuff in the summer and get some experience, and go back in the winter, on an easier trails you're already familiar with. Don't forget too that it gets colder the higher up you get, and there can be a dusting of snow in the valley but 5+ feet higher up. Every year there are rescues and even deaths in the northeast of normies who go out in winter grossly unprepared.
Is that Katahdin? Good lord that's beautiful especially in the winter, I really want to work my way up to that but I only have experience hiking, not even camping right now.
Like what?
Algonquin, from Wright. It was -40, my hands were numb just taking my gloves off and getting that pic. You can git gud at day hiking without camping, but just get more experience before you go out in the winter.
How do I get more experience besides doing it? I only ask because climbing a mountain in winter is a hell of a lot different than climbing it in summer
Thanks will check those out
Well, get more experience climbing in the summer. It's all the challenges of summer plus the cold and snow. Late fall and early spring are also decent times to get a taste of it without full blown freezing your balls off weather.
Being prepared is a big part of it, microspikes, snowshoes, look up how to layer as well. I usually bring a merino wool baselayer, a fleece, a hooded down jacket, and a windbreaker. Gloves or mittens, hat, face protection, insulated hiking boots. Above treeline ski goggles are nice to protect from the sun reflecting off the snow. Definitely check the weather and bail if there's any chance of bad weather at all, being stuck in a whiteout unable to navigate sucks a lot.
Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills
The Seven Strengths of Summiting
nonono thats possibly dangerous advice. summer is the most dangerous anywhere with glaciers and crevasses. but its probably the safest on mountains without. ask locals/rangers/local guide/outfitter/unironically reddit which season is best in your area and for the mountains you're doing if you don't know your area yet.
we don't know where OP lives you can't assume when its something that could kill him.
if you have some money do a few guided summits its well worth it if you don't know an oldgay to take you under their wing.
don't do mountaineering solo only babby mountains. if you need a friend who does this stuff get involved in some local PrepHole stuff. got a local trail maintanence or wilderness search&rescue volunteer thing? good place to find people to do mountains with.
random tips:
practice self arrest
learn ice climbing
learn compass&map nav
take an avalance safety class (!!!!!!!) and rent a beacon in avalanche zones
always tell someone where you are & itinerary
don't fall for PrepHole memes like muh trekking poles bad as a random example, theres a lot of children on this board
He did specify the northeast, where there are no glaciers. Most of the deaths up here are falls, followed by cold exposure, and the occasional avalanche. At least there's not a ton of avalanche prone areas. Almost all avalanches in the ADK are on the slides. Just last winter some guy who had experience climbing 8000ers died on the mt colden trap dike and was found buried under several feet of snow, but that's a route that routinely kills people any time of year.
yeah frick my brain somehow glossed over that sentence where he said he's in the northeast, reading his post twice. derp.
still useful for OP to be aware of if he ever travels so i'll leave the post up.
but ye OP, not a big concern in your region!
good to know i'm not the only pnwgay feeding off these lulz.
Read The Freedom of the Hills
It’s the mountaineers bible. It has a crash course in everything you need to know. It’s not as good as having a mentor or teacher, but it is better than nothing.
Read and make sure you know every single part of it by heart, because ALL of the information is necessary and has a use case. Any good mountaineer will know it.
My biggest gripe with it is that it is kind of short on avalanches. So I would pick up ‘staying alive in avalanche terrain’
The east is a good place to learn because the mountains are not very tall, steep or remote compared to the west. That said, much like a loaded gun, never underestimate ANY mountain.
If you can't read, then watch some YouTube videos. Seriously, it's 2022.
From hiking some steepass mountains in the Rockies.
Descent is often harder than the ascent. Bring moleskins for your feet if you aren't used to it. Incline/decline will rub your feet in different ways. If you're a coastie, acclimate at elevation first, most people don't have problems below 12,000 feet, but I've seen people gas out and faint going up a 14er. Bring an emergency beacon in case your fatass ends up making it to the top but peters out on the aforementioned descent. Mountain peaks are lightning magnets, know your weather, and more importantly your radar. It might be fine in the valley but storming at the peak. At least a handful of hikers ends up getting lightning struck summiting every year around here.
I could go on, but some of it won't really apply to Appalachians.
I live in the middle of the rocky mountains and to be frank, nobody climbs here in winter unless they want to die. Lots of ways you can die in the mountains in winter. Avalanche gets a few dozen every year but good old hypothermia is the usual way out.
best of luck newb! Pay your SAR dues before they have to go save you.
yeah i'll second this
don't frick around esp in winter
its easy to die, i fully expect to die young doing this
I'm in the PNW, and every year we lose silicon valley buttholes who get high on North face and Patagonia fumes and think they're hot shit. It's actually pretty hilarious because it's always somebody who works for Apple or Google.
i wonder how many of them pretty much directly got killed by alltrails and similar websites by reading reviews/trail reports from the wrong season.
Maybe not winter but I want to go when there's snow on the ground.
>nobody climbs here in winter unless they want to die.
so are ice climbers considered suicidal?
You think they aren't?
LoL. Although things are better. They did some studies, of people who climb regularly like 3.5-5% suffer a serious injury from it within 5 years. But in the 80s it was 20% had a fracture, concussion or other serious injury.
Fatalities were like 1 in 20. Gears much safer now for rock climbing. But I feel like ice climbers might still be a bit higher.
There's a fine line between type 2 fun and suicidal I'll admit. But I wouldn't call them suicidal. Mountaineering is not for everyone.
Should I use spikes or even cramp ons when there wasn't any new snow but the top is still dusted from snow? Talking about 3km elevation here. Planning to go out early October
I have a beat up pair of microspikes I take along when I'm not sure if I'm going to use them or not. Streams can be frozen even if there's only a dusting of snow.
i always bring my spikes up in the mountains whether i need them or not unless there's zero snow/ice. i've seen and known people to get up somewhere realize they need them think "i can tough it" and get severely injured.
btw if you're op a good piece of advice is that the name brand kahtoola microspikes are the only good ones. i don't normally shill for products but i will shill for that one. they're the only spikes that properly secure to a shoe, unless there's something new on the market recently. slipping spikes sucks ass not worth saving $50.
Kahtoolas are ok, I bring an old pair when going on mixed rock and ice, but I've had them break before with normal usage and
I find they dull quickly. Hillsound trail crampons are what I take when it's entirely ice and snow, they have larger spikes that are more durable, and are attached to plates rather than just chains so are sturdier on really steep stuff.
those look good, i haven't tried them yet.
its the random cheap chink brands that should be avoided, i see them slipping off people's feet and people adjusting them constantly.
Check them out if you find microspikes slipping, especially on steep downhills. Either brands are useful though and vastly better than y*ktraks.
Monbell has a similar design
https://webshop.montbell.jp/goods/disp.php?product_id=1129490
Learn how to build a temporary snow shelter, weather changes incredibly quick.
depends on the mountain
generally, make sure that others know that you're going and what path you're taking.