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Ascent to Mount Tom-South Saddle on 2011-01-29

Climber: Scott Wieman

Others in Party:

Mike Geary
Ben Kuelthau
Miles Horton
Pat Megley
Noah Wentzel
Amy Levine
Steph Durell

Date:

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Ascent Type:

Unsuccessful - Turned Back

Point Reached:

Mount Tom - South Saddle

Location:

USA-New Hampshire

Elevation:

3600 ft / 1097 m

Remaining Elevation:

451 ft / 137 m (28% left to go)

Ascent Trip Report

We woke up pretty late in the cold bunk room of Zealand Falls Hut and had breakfast in the main room. After breakfast and the pain of putting on frozen socks, coats, and boots, we packed up and headed out to Mount Tom. The Avalon-Zealand Trail was tracked out but not broken very well, so we plunged into the snow and started up towards the saddle. As we climbed higher and higher, the snow got thicker on the ground and trees, coating the world in unbroken, glistening white. We were taking a very long time to go up because of how much fun we were having in the snow, so we stopped for lunch just west of the saddle. After lunch we headed back down the trail, stopping after about an hour to line a small section of it with snow angels. The only other stops were when Noah, Miles, or I would take a tumble down a particularly steep section of the trail. When we reached the Zealand Trail, we almost immediately struck out across the frozen ponds at the base of Zeacliff. This "two-lake traverse," as Mike called it, was very fun, though the sky was rapidly pouring heavy snowflakes on us the entire time.

Summary Total Data

Elevation Gain:

1155 ft / 352 m

Distance:

5 mi / 8 km

Route:

Avalon-Zealand Trail

Trailhead:

Zealand Pond 2445 ft / 745 m

Route Conditions:

Maintained Trail, Open Country, Bushwhack, Snow on Ground

Gear Used:

Ski Poles, Snowshoes, Hut Camp

Weather:

Cold, Calm, Overcast
Three to four feet of snow on the ground in the saddle. Snowing very hard by the time we reached the

Ascent Part of Trip: Zealand Falls Hut Snowshoeing (3 nights total away from roads)

Complete Trip Sequence:

Order	Peak/Point	Date
1	Zeacliff-Zealand Falls Hut	2011-01-28
2	(Attempt) Mount Tom	2011-01-29 a
3	Zeacliff-Zealand Falls Hut	2011-01-29 b
4	Zeacliff	2011-01-30 a
5	Zealand Mountain	2011-01-30 b
6	Zeacliff	2011-01-30 c

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