Alpinist Andrew's Adventures

To Rappel Or Not to Rappel, That Is The Question

I have the habit of building climbs up in my mind, thus setting my self up for major disappointment when it is not in the cards. Waking up at 2am and driving 3.5 hours to New Hampshire is quite a way to start a morning. The approach up the packed trail to Huntington Ravine did not take long (2 hrs). We were heading up the approach slope by 8:45, but already the sun was beating down. The avalanche rating was moderate for Damnation Gully, mainly because of a wind loaded slope at the apex of the gully. However, there was the added danger of an above average sized cornice looming over the entire gully and upper slope. Deciding to travel under such hazards is tricky. When conditions are low, most climbers go for it, while when conditions are considerable most would not travel under such hazards. However, when the rating is moderate there is a rather large gray area of decision making. Needless to say, we headed up Damnation and quite quickly I realized I was unwilling to travel under such hazards. My mind became entangle in past experiences of being caught in avalanches and this subsequently affected my climbing ability. I became sketched out on steep snow; terrain that would be easy. Given slow climbing, warm conditions, and constant debris falling down the gully, I decided I was not going up, thus we rapped off a V-thread to terrain we could down climb. Soon after descending, loose snow avalanches began flowing down the gully as the winds picked up to over 60mph. We descended back to the cars...for another day I suppose.