Glorious

2009-01-10 15:54:45.000 – Jordan Scampoli,  Summit Intern

Rime on the rocks…Shaken, not stirred.

Big things are happening at the summit today…SUN! It’s been close to three shift weeks for me without a full day of clear skies, so needless to say today has been a good day. The morning started off with a gorgeous sunrise and low winds for our EduTripping group of science teachers. It was even a balmy 1 degree Fahrenheit above zero!

Around 10 am Steve went for a walk about the summit, so Plymouth State intern Ross Fessenden and I decided to follow Steve’s lead. We took a stroll down to the Nelson Crag trail to get a view of the East Snowfields. While much of the true summit is glare and rime ice, the East Snowfields have a bit more snow due to the direction of the winds recently. They looked ready for a ski, but I decided instead to walk down by the Great Gulf to check in on some of the chutes I’ve heard about.

Perfection! After a quick inspection of a few different chutes and the avvy conditions, I will introduce the Great Gulf to the bottom of my skis tomorrow. After checking in on the snow, Ross and I took a walk through deep drifted snow around Mt. Clay, stopping every once in a while to enjoy the views. We then turned back and hiked home, basking in 5 degree Fahrenheit temperatures and little to no wind except on the summit. We returned just in time to say goodbye to the Edutrippers and hello to some spinach and bacon quiche thanks to Charlie and Jeanine, this weeks volunteers.

Note: Thanks to Stacey Kawecki and Ross Fessenden for the pictures.

Jordan Scampoli,  Summit Intern