Mountaineering

Winter Mountaineering

In the winter in the White Mountains the temperatures plunge, the ground becomes hard as stone, the snow and ice comes and covers everything. Welcome to my favorite time in the mountains. It’s the reason, over thirty years ago, North Conway became my home.
I offer a wide range of winter mountaineering instruction and guiding to those who already love the winter or those who will not be pushed indoors by it.

Special Mt Washington Observatory Overnight Trips

Winter Mountaineering Essentials:

Learn the mountaineering skills you need for travel in any of the mountain ranges of the world and spend the night on top of the highest mountain in the Northeast. Learn the proper use of crampons and ice axes, self-arrest, navigation as well as avalanche safety and avalanche transceiver use.
After dinner you will watch a slide show that will take you from Mt Washington to Pakistan. In the morning put your skills to the test with a dawn hike around the summit. Join me, a professional climbing guide for over thirty years (with over four hundred winter ascents of Mt Washington) and Vice President of the New Hampshire Mountain Rescue Service on a trip you will never forget.

Winter Mountaineering Essentials II: “What if”
What do you do if it doesn’t go as planned. We will cover the potential dangers in winter above tree line travel and what you can do if you loose your way or somebody in your group is hurt.
We will cover use of crampons and ice axes as well as emergency snow shelters. How to survive an avalanche, how to search for people buried. After dinner you will watch a slide show and discuss how we make a plan for a winter trip. Join Joe Lentini, professional climbing guide for over thirty years (with over four hundred winter ascents of Mt Washington) and Vice President of the New Hampshire Mountain Rescue Service on a trip to prepare you for “What if”.

Basic Mountaineering
Crampon use, self -arrest, basic rope work, low-angle ice climbing are all part of this introduction to mountaineering.
Efficiency is the key to mountaineering success. Learn to move with speed and safety over varied terrain. Open up above tree line for the whole year.

One-Day Ascent of Mt Washington
    Learn the mountaineering skills you need for travel in any of the mountain ranges of the world. Proper use of crampons and ice axes, self-arrest, navigation as well as avalanche safety and avalanche transceiver use will be covered while we attempt to climb to the summit of Mt Washington.
(If you take the basic mountaineering day before this one-day ascent you will greatly increase your chances of reaching the summit.)

Lafayette Ridge Traverse
    For many winter is the most beautiful time in the mountains. Fewer people, no bugs. Learn the mountaineering skills you need for travel in above tree line. We will cover the proper use of crampons and ice axes, self-arrest, navigation as well as avalanche safety all while all while attempting to reach the summit of Mt Lafayette (elevation 5,260). If the conditions are right we might even cross the ridge and descend Mount Lincoln (elevation 5,089 feet).

Northern Presidential Range Traverse.
    One, two or three days, it all depends on your skill and fitness level.

PHionsHead.jpg Joe Lentini rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering instruction and guiding, North Conway NH, MA, NY CT, the United States and worldwide, Mt Washington winter ascents, AMGA courses and training