Day 8 – Correction from Day 3
I mis-spelled Graupel on Day 3
Here’s the real spelling /graupel/ and the pronunciation:/ˈgraʊp(ə)l/
noun - small particles of snow with a fragile crust of ice; soft hail.
- Origin: late 19th century: German Graupel, back-formation from graupeln ’to hail with soft hailstones’, from Graupe ’cereal grain’
- Here’s how it sounds in German “Graupel“
I bet that origin would surprise a few avalanche forecasters and meteorologists around the country.
Day 5,6,7 – New Year, a couple of days off the mountain with the kids.
Every year I volunteer for the Eastern Slope Ski Club. The schools in the area all get to ski 1/2 day at one of the local ski areas. My two boys are 9 and 11 and we’ve been involved since they were in first grade. It’s great to watch kids growing up in the mountains. So today is the first day of the program. The bummer is that there is just a few trails open at Cranmore, and there will be a school full of kids racing down the slopes. I fear for my shiny new Black Diamond skis I got for Christmas….
Day 4 – Room to Breathe, No hiking today
Old man winter has been very stingy so far this season. This makes most of the snow rangers a little crazy, by now mornings would consist of a quick ride into Huntington Ravine, over to Tuckerman Ravine, write the avalanche advisory by 8am plus or minus. No snow means getting into the ravines the old fashion way, by foot. This might add an hour or so to the whole process. The flip side is, no snow means a general advisory for both ravines that gets updated when necessary, or every three days. Today, no new snow, no existing concerns, no hiking.
With that I dig back into my stack of images to pull out something a bit more abstract. The Forest Service cabin at Hermit Lake is retro-ish. Built before I was born, with few upgrades since, make the old storm windows ideal for growing frost and ice crystals. The variety and scale of these crystal gardens are worthy of a personal photography project, a book even. So here’s a start at it.
crystal feathers growing to completely cover an entire window.
Day – 3 High Winds, really low temps
The winds on Mount Washington hit a buck and a quarter (125 mph), sometime early this morning. The day before provided pretty good conditions for the formation of grappel, which is when a snowflake falls from the sky through a layer of moist air forming a frosty coat over the snowflake. Sometimes the flake gets caught up in an updraft and cycles back up into the atmosphere picking up a thicker layer of frosting. eventually it hits the ground. During high winds these “styrofoam” balls of snow collect in sheltered spots. Today I got to wade through 5 feet of it. It felt like a huge beanbag dumped its insides into a pile. Same feeling, same consistency, without all those “beans” clinging to everything.
This shot was taken at about 0 degrees with a wind somewhere around 50 of so. The summit was recording gusts near 80 at the time. Being in a sheltered “ravine” takes some of the sting out of the blasts.
Bottom of the Open Book, and Ice climb in Tuckerman Ravine. At least 4 feet of grappel piled into the base of the climb.
Day 2 – Embracing the Iphone
Studded snow tires, necessary for commuting into the mountains.
Ice crystals, a constant companion for the cabin windows.
Up until now I haven’t really embraced the camera function on my Iphone.
It seems awkward and unnatural. The convenience and the fact that it is always around more than makes up for those short comings. What it boils down to is that it’s another tool that is more than capable of creating content and telling stories.
I plan to continue posting short comments and stories from my winter on Mount Washington, using iphonography, photography, audio, video and any thing else that might work.
Stay tuned, pass the link along, or drop me a line.
Winter on Mount Washington
I’ll spending most of my winter days on Mount Washington. Working with the USFS Avalanche Center and spreading my time between Huntington Ravine and Tuckerman Ravine. Tons of projects slated for the season, historical work with Brad Ray, a long time Snow Ranger, more photo essays, video and multimedia covering the inner working of the avalanche center. On top of that there will be time in between for ice climbing and skiing. More to come as winter finally gets going here in New Hampshire.
Pete Miller, Hermit Lake caretaker, at the base of "The Open Book" in Tuckerman Ravine. Early season conditions persist into late December, making this much ice unusual for Christmas time.
Artisan Project
For a few years I’ve been photographing craftsmen and artisans from around New Hampshire and Maine. Part of my interest in this project comes from meeting new people that are completely absorbed and passionate about what they do. Often times while shooting they’ll forget I’m there, which works great for me, allowing more authentic images. I will continue the artisan project building it to include as many craftspeople as I can find. So far one artisan leads to another, to another. I don’t see an end in sight for the moment. More artisans can be found under the artisan project link on my website or here.
Glass blower Nathan Macomber of Conway, New Hampshire working on what will become a large platter.
Hot or Cold
Your getting warmer. Everyone has played that game at some point in their life. Why is getting warmer better. I really like the winter, especially here in New Hampshire. The silence is deafening, it’s easy to find solitude, and it’s a dry cold…most of the time. Yeah I’m rushing through autumn at the moment, looking forward to winter and remembering a fantastic spring and summer. Hot or Cold it’s really good to have the changing of the seasons upon us.
Grand Case, Saint Martin - Mount Washington, New Hampshire.
Sang Happy Birthday to Tony Bennett
I would put that in my resume, I think. Maybe as a bullet under special awards or something like that. I just spent a couple hours with Glenn Shuld to produce some headshots for his blossoming acting carreer. His latest job was for some show called “Blue Blood” with Tom Selleck and special guest Tony Bennett. During our session Glenn told me about how he got to sing Happy Birthday to Mr. Bennett on the set of Blue Blood. Here’s one of the shots, look for him next time you’re up late watching TV.
