Springtime

Beginner's Guide to Backpacking

Springtime
Springtime may be my favorite time in the high mountains. The scenery still says winter, but the weather says spring. The avalanche danger has both diminished and become far more predictable. As the snowpack consolidates and stabilizes under the influence of the warm spring sun, the breakable crust of midwinter gives way to delightful corn snow, the world's easiest snow to ski. Very few people come to the mountains then, because there is a bit of a catch: you have to be willing to get up early.

Warm days and still-cold nights mean the snowpack goes through a strong daily cycle. At dawn the snowpack is usually frozen hard enough to bear a skier's weight, so travel is fast and easy. By midmorning, the surface has softened to a depth of an inch or so, and downhill runs are silken perfection. By noon the snow has softened still further and skiing has become more difficult as skiers must force their skis to turn in deep slush. The avalanche danger begins to climb. By midafternoon, liquid water is percolating through the snow pack, loosening the bonds that hold the snowpack's layers together, and the avalanche danger is climbing to unacceptable levels. Even on the flats, travel can be difficult as skis plunge into the rotten snowpack. After sunset, the snowpack begins to refreeze and at dawn the cycle repeats itself. The key to enjoying springtime travel and to avoiding avalanches, therefore, is to adopt Ben Franklin's motto: early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and alive.

The information contained here is only a primer on what you need to know to travel safely and comfortably in the high mountains in the snowy months. What's said of life in general is particularly true of winter camping: good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. Winter places far greater demands on fitness, route-finding skills, camping techniques and the ability to take care of yourself in foul weather than summer does. Even with the best gear, the discomfort quotient is undeniably higher. At times, fingers grow numb even if protected by the best gloves available. Loads are heavy with extra clothing, a heavy-duty tent, a winter-weight sleeping bag and extra-thick foam pad, a snow shovel and on and on. In the winter, even more than in the summer, the wilderness demands respect. Despite the many challenges, however, winter travel in the high mountains is an experience that many find far more rewarding than cruising up some summertime wilderness highway masquerading as a trail and pulling into a designated backcountry campsite. In its solitary character and confrontation with nature in the raw, it is an experience far closer to what most people imagine wilderness travel should be like. It should not be missed.

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