Assignment 5_PaulK

The White Mountains are particularly unforgiving in the winter months, but are constantly seeing wind and temperature record breaking numbers. Having grown up in the foothills of the Whites, I am familiar with the terrain and how quickly conditions can change the highest peaks of the 4 thru 6 thousand footers. Among the most dangerous mountains in the world, Mount Washington has challenged adventurers for centuries with its severe weather. From the days when people ascended the mountains in hoop skirts and wool suits to today’s high-tech assaults on wintry summits, this book offers extensive profiles of people who found trouble on New Hampshire’s Presidential Range, from the nineteenth century through present day. Pretty much all the stories tell of death and the cause. In an environmental based high school english class we had read Not Without Peril. The book just makes you feel so vulnerable to the chance of weather. Granted it takes quite some will power to want to summit the mountain in blustery winter conditions, some days provide bluebird conditions like that of the day I took these photos. We did not summit Mt Washington, due to wind chill temperatures. I had three camera batteries on my person, but as soon as we were exposed to the wind coming from the north side, the camera would not function easily in the cold.