8 New Summits in April, May & June:
+3 New Lines in the Presidentials
Spring conditions opened up an opportunity for me to get into some new ski lines in the Presidentials that I am very excited about. With enough snowpack to keep them filled in and decent weather bringing stability and sunshine, I felt confident going up and ticking off some consequential lines that I had previously been a bit scared to do. The first big line of the spring was Dodge's Drop on Bootspur, a 45-degree line that many consider one of the "king lines" in New England. After hiking up Hillman's highway and traversing up over the top of the line, I was understandably nervous to take the first turn into the incredibly steep entry (the reasoning behind the namesake of "drop"), however, once I made that first turn my confidence came back and I enjoyed every moment of the opportunity to ski this iconic line nearly top to bottom.
A week or so later I had the chance to ski Diaganol Gully in Huntington ravine, an iconic granite chute with a large ice bulge. This line is considered a "no-fall" line as losing your footing would result in a large fall down the Harvard ice bulge, of which I naturally had no desire to do. Luckily we were treated with great conditions and consistent snow conditions in the bright sunshine, making the skiing feel safe and downright pleasant. We even booted back up the line a walked over to the top of Tuckerman ravine afterwaafterwardIrds, where i ticked off a full top to bottom ski on The Lip.
+4 New NH 4,000 footers
In my quest to finish up the NH 4,000 footers this summer I tackled a few of the slightly less runnable routes still left on my list. First up was running the southern part of the Kilkenny Ridge trail in order to tick off Waumbek and Cabot. This is a bit rugged of a trail with very minimal views, a little bushwhacking, lots of moose poop, to step in and many, MANY bugs. Despite those typical New England nuisances, it was a great day and my biggest mileage yet for the spring.
Next up I went for some speed on the Tripyramid slides loop for a little fun scrambling. Originally I had hoped to go for the FKT but the conditions ended up being rather foggy and slick on the rocks so I transitioned to pushing myself physically while staying safe. I didn't have much of a desire to test out the "slide" portion of the name. I was very happy with my time on the loop even still and it was a great confidence boost as the first speed push of the season.
+5% New trails traced in Southern NH
This spring I spent a good amount of time running around some of the lower terrains in Southern New Hampshire while getting in my trail miles. Some of these runs uncovered some new areas like the Uncanoonuc mountains, Jerry's Hill, Joe English Trails, and Epsom Town Forest. I also had a chance to explore some areas close to my hometown in the Ossipee Mountains and Copple Crown overlooking the lake.
These trail miles gave me time to fall into the beat of running season, work on my fueling (I found gels I like!), and just generally enjoy exploring in the woods- which is really why I like running after all.
Other Adventures:
This spring I also spent some time scoping out future ski lines and approaches for the future, which is always fun. As a skier who really likes to feel comfortable in navigating the terrain around her, this time learning new areas, and approaches and skiing small sections of lines really helps me feel prepared for when the day comes to ski it in full. Honestly, bopping around the gullies and snowfields in the mountains is a whole lot of fun as well!
I also did my first "slack country" on Washington this year! This entails driving up and down the auto road to poach the last remaining snow left in the snowfields. It was a blast and I can't wait to make it a tradition in upcoming years (jean one piece and Hawaiin shirt included).
Fundraising:
For Q2 of this year total pledge amount of $18 per summit. My total of 8 summits in this quarter means I raised $144 for the causes I believe in. The breakdown of how this money is distributed by each cause can be found below.
| # Summits | Q2 Pledges |
Share Winter | | |
MWAC | 3 | $54 |
Women's Sport Foundation | | |
AMC | 4 | $72 |
Access Fund | | |
Kismet | | |
NH State Parks | 1 | $18 |
| $144 |
To date I have raised $2905 for causes I believe in (almost 3% of my $100,000 goal).
Looking Forward:
Looking forward to Q3 and warmer temperatures, I'm excited to get a lot more trail miles under my belt and start ticking off some of the New England classics left on my list like a Presidential Traverse and Pemi Loop. I also have my eye on some fun FKTs and adventure days around the lake's region that are sure to be a blast! As the temps cool into September I hope to make some progress ticking off some climbs at Rumney and spending some time on the rock.
A reminder that if you want to follow my day-to-day training and adventures my Strava, Instagram, or my Twitter are the best places :)
That's it for now! Thank you for your support and for sharing this journey with me. Keep following along for my adventures to come and I hope to see you out there!