We arrived in the afternoon and hiked up to Harvard Cabin and stayed the night there before heading up the Lion’s Head Winter route.
The second day started off great; cool but pleasant. The wind started to pick up once we were on the ridge and the snow as we got to the summit.
On the summit the weather station staff invited us inside the (not open all winter yet) visitor centre and the luxury of a flush toilet and a bit of warming up.
Then we started down the open face, switch-backing to help mitigate the wind, and about a third of the way down the main face is when one of our party had a crampon heel stick and pitched forward and lost her footing and slowly started to slide. I was about ten meters ahead, saw this and ran across to intercept and arrest the slide and managed to avoid getting crampon injuries in the process. Unfortunately there was a bad sprain extension injury from the stuck crampon that did mean they had to use our axes as crutches until we got back to Harvard Cabin where they were returned to the Pinkham Notch Welcome Centre via snow cat.
Mount Washington is not a mountain to underestimate, and in the future in similar conditions a short-rope will be setup to help provide additional security if the unforeseeable should happen. Everyone who ventures into the winter mountains also needs to practice their self-arrest until it’s second nature, it could save your life.
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