Mt Katahdin, Maine January 25-31, 2000:

Bill 'I wont sleep in a snow cave' Finger, Mike 'strawberry' Friedman, Robert 'wipe the cream cheese off the knife' Zeithammer, and Hector 'safety' Briceno

UPFRONT AMERICAN DISCLAIMER: This was not an official MITOC trip (although all participants are or have been trip leaders). 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.

First the short version of the trip report: A group of us wanted to go to Katahdin, Maine. We got a permit. Drove up on Tuesday January 25th; summitted Katahdin at 1pm on Friday January 28th; and summitted Pamola Peak at 10:30am on Saturday. Were back in Boston on Monday at 4:30pm.

Now a more elaborate version of our adventure: (you can find this trip report in http://graphics.lcs.mit.edu/~hbriceno/climb/katahdin2000)

It all started sometime ago, when we toyed with the idea of doing a long committing winter trip. A group of us had been in Katahdin in the summer of 1998. Pat Brown and I thought that the logical choice for New England was a winter ascent of Mount Katahdin...

The group slowly took shape and the interested parties went on trips together. Initially we had consolidated a group of 6 strong hikers, but in the end two would not be able to make it due to pressing commitments. Pat was also going to come, but a sickness prevented him being in shape in time for the trip. This state park is different from most state parks in that during winter, a permit has to be obtained. Additionally the distance from civilization, (one FULL day) makes self rescue mandatory. For this reason, they required a minimum group size of 4 and some proof (hiking/climbing resume) of winter experience. Incidentally the park recommends to gather a group of 6 just in case 2 people cannot make it (they were right on the dot).

The group was formed. It would be Bill "I wont sleep in a snow cave" Finger, Robert "could you wipe the cream cheese of the knife" Zeithammer, Mike "Strawberry" Freedman, and yours truly Hector "Safety" Briceno. Gamma Luke Sosnowski and Chrissy "Marathon Runner" Guth would not be able to join us.

Since this was more than a day hike, we took this trip seriously and decided to due a multitude of winter hikes including overnights to prepare. I will not go into details of this trip, except that the weekend before our departure, we did a double overnight trip to test the sleeping system (double bag system, which I would rate good, down to -30F), and one of the most important and key pieces of gear for the trip: The Sleds. This hike into the Pemigewasset, ruled out the Turbo-boggans as our cargo vehicles for the long approach, making us scramble for a replacement. At last the Pelican-boggans would suffice. Another important detail to point out, is that it is crucial that team members be socially compatible, since we would be spending 5 days together, and nights can sometimes be long. Luckily have grown to understand the way the Czech mind of Robert works, the quirks and perks of Mr. Friedman and the humor and entertainment that Se~or Finger provides. (I can say from the outside, that the other team members were not apparently displeased with the ways of Monsieur Briceno, he can be sometimes annoying, pathetic, etc...(and God, those bad jokes).

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