KATAHDIN 2000A report on an expedition with lessons for winter camping

Meet the participants

Hector Briceno

Bill Finger

MikeFreedman

RobertZeithammer

DISCLAIMER: This was not an official MITOC trip. This is not an undertaking to take lightly. It is required to have previous winter experience before such endeavor. We are not responsible for any actions, opinions, suggestions, innuendoes, data, information, statistics taken from this report that causes any adverse conditions onto yourself or others.

The lessons

1) Testing the gear beforehand and learning how to use it2) Careful planning3) Picking and preparing a campsite4) Camp-setup routine5) Food, food, and more food6) Getting tucked-in7) Surviving the night8) Getting up9) Morning routine10) Sustaining all this for multiple days in a row…

Testing the gear beforehand and learning how to use it

• Boots (poor Mike)• Skis & technical stuff• All stoves (Primus?)• Food (frozen solid?)• Sustainability…

Testing the gear beforehand and learning how to use it

Careful planning

• setting objectives• training together• cost projections• detailed itinerary• gear and food lists• crucial equipment: 1) stove 2) ground pad 3) sleeping bag

Finally, time to set out…(no lessons here…)

On the way to the mountain…

Picking and preparing a campsite: dig in!

…or at least hide in trees

Other tips:• skis stay on at first…• crampons off• functional areas• recessed vestibule floor

Camp-setup routine

1) Everybody works, GROUP STUFF FIRST!!!2) Don’t bundle up asap, try to dry up as much as possible3) Division of labor is the way to go:

• Melting snow and cooking• Pitching tents• Arranging the insides of pitched tents (mats and bags)

Food, food, and more food

1) Dinner • Instant stuff rules!• Fat is your friend• Large insulated mugs

2) Water• For night and next day• Thermoses rock!

3) Breakfast• Sugar & fat + liquids!• On summit day: bars

Getting tucked-in

• Last bathroom stop• Organize all gear

(it could snow at night…)• Moisture is your enemy (Hamlet method)• One at a time!• Make it quick• Quick sugar snack• Human clothes-dryer?• Two philosophies:

1) Dry extra clothes2) Just take off GTX…

Surviving the night• Warm at first, colder later on (either zip up or add clothes)• Quick run – last resort• Pee bottle… yuck!• This moment will come, but much later than you think:

Getting up & morning routine

This is the coldest you will be all day!

• Do as much as you can in your sleeping bag•Again, one at a time!• First one out starts breakfast cooking• Whoever doesn’t cook packs up for the day• Brisk toe-warming 15-minute walk (for bellow-zero conditions)• Cooking breakfast:

• Ideally: in the vestibule of the tent while in sleeping bag• Large groups: standing around camp

• DON’T PANIC, you will actually feel your toes and fingers after you start hiking… Best strategy: run & stop

After all this, let’s climb the mountain!

Cathedral trail

Returning via Saddle Trail

Pamola Peak – let’s climb it tomorrow!

What a day!!!

Who needs tents anyway?

Retreating back to the car…

Let’s go again in 2002!

http://graphics.lcs.mit.edu/~hbriceno/climb/katahdin2000