Vibe Spring2025 - Flipbook - Page 68
winter intern for the Mount Washington
Observatory (MWOBS) and MWAC. With
a background in snow hydrology, MacDonald’s goal is to look at snow from a
safety standpoint and to determine how
much water a storm is carrying, and what
that means for the amount of snow that
may fall in the days ahead.
“Mount Washington has some really
specific conditions that don’t fit into that
framework all the time,” says MacDonald.
“A lot of work is just trying to figure out if
there is a better system for determining
how much snow we have.”
It may snow 10 inches in the bowl, but
when the wind blows into the ravine, now
there’s snow piling, creating a heavy layer
Before attempting to ski down
Tuckerman Ravine, Fongemie
suggests starting small. Hike
partway up a smaller slope with a
safe runout and see how it feels. If
it feels okay, go a little higher the
next time. “People need to be quite
solid skiers, and they also need to
know their limitations,” he adds.
on a potentially weak snowpack, which
can trigger an avalanche. Performing these
field observations in advance helps the
crew determine the risk for the day.
SPRING RISKS & RESCUES
Although the risk of avalanches decreases
in spring, the hazards from warmer
temperatures, more intense sunlight, and
snow-to-rain cycles create more dangers
than in winter. During spring, there are
hundreds (sometimes thousands) of
people heading up to the ravine, who
are often less experienced than winter
adventurers. According to Jeff Fongemie,
director of the MWAC, the area is treated
like a ski resort.
“It feels like people take more risks
here than if they are in a backcountry
setting alone,” he says. People follow their
peers up the left side of the headwall and
don’t realize what they’ve gotten themselves into until they’re standing on top
of the ravine itself.
Fongemie says that when it comes to
the causes of fatalities in the ravine, 20
percent are from avalanches, 20 percent
are from hypothermia or exposure, and
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