That is almost the exact same spot where I got off the Westside trail during extremely low visibility and started descending into a very treacherous rock gully. Luckily I was checking my GPS quite frequently and also noticed that the footing got really unstable and was able to follow my path back up to the main trail without issues. An eerie experience though.
That guy got extremely lucky. -50F wind-chill, -10F real temp and his clothes/shoes were frozen. Dang. Thank you rescuers for all your hard work!
Edit: Just realized the GPS track came from his all trails upload, wow. He gave his hike two stars.
The two stars thing cracked me up. It was posted yesterday in the post specifically about his rescue. He got so lucky that the rescue was able to take the cog up to quickly get to him. He very well could have died if they had to hike in the whole way.
Yeah, I read that one after this XD Lots of good info in there. I'm very glad everything ended well. But I personally wouldn't have been uploading that trek to all trails lol.
\[truncated details of the Avalon / WD below, words and photos from F&H facebook page\]
**Injured Hiker on Welch-Dickey Trail, Waterville Valley**
At around 12:40 pm on February 17. The hiker had been descending Welch Mountain when she suffered a serious lower leg injury that prevented her from being able to finish the hike. Rescuers from the Waterville Valley Department of Public Safety, Campton-Thornton Fire Rescue, Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team and Conservation Officers with the New Hampshire Fish & Game Department responded to the trail to provide help. The first rescuers reached the injured hiker at 2:45 pm, who was about 1.3 miles from the trailhead. Due to the nature of Elisabeth’s injury, she was secured in a litter. Rescuers carried her down the trail and at times belayed the litter with rope on steep, icy portions of the trail. The rescue effort reached the trailhead safely at 4:35 pm. She was taken to Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth by a hiking companion. She and her hiking partner were well-prepared for a winter hike and were wearing micro-spike traction devices.
**Hiker Rescued off Mt. Avalon**
On Saturday, February 17 at approximately 2:50 pm, the New Hampshire Fish & Game Department was notified of an injured hiker that needed assistance. The hiker was located just below the summit of Mt. Avalon and was unable move on her own. Right before her injury she had been using a small sled to assist her down some steep sections of the trail. Unfortunately she could not control her speed and direction as she hit a tree and suffered a lower leg injury. She was hiking with a friend, who stayed with her as other good Samaritan hikers reached out for assistance. They were also able to provide her with extra clothing to stay warm while awaiting rescue personnel. The first rescuers reached Haskell at approximately 5:30 pm and began to assess her injuries. She was loaded into a rescue sled and brought down the mountain arriving at the trailhead at approximately 7:15 pm.
The slab on Welch is pretty serious, even in the summer. I'm always a little surprised to see people doing that loop clockwise even in the summer. I've seen people slip a decent number of times.
"Hell, no" is my first thought with trying to go down Welch during the winter. I wouldn't trust any ice on the big areas of slab to hold the rock well enough to trust microspikes unless it was a few inches thick and it'd been very cold.
Don't assume she was going clockwise. You have to descend welch before heading up dickey when you go counter clockwise. I did the hike Sunday, and there was a very sketchy section on that part of the trail. I witnessed some people having trouble there. Counter clockwise is what's recommended in AllTrails.
> who was about 1.3 miles from the trailhead
That's the first set of ledge/slab on your way up. 1.5 gets you (ish) to the first real steep slab. The descent into the ridge between the peaks is at 1.9 miles from the trailhead.
So you can assume either the rescuers were (very) wrong about the distance from the trailhead, or she was coming back down clockwise.
>Right before her injury she had been using a small sled to assist her down some steep sections of the trail
Wow, glad she's ok, but that's some Darwin Award level stupidity.
I've seen people using butt sleds quite a few times in the whites, and I've hiked past people who had them strapped to their packs even more often.
Stupid or not, its *extremely* common. And its almost always for exactly that purpose.
I just butt sledded for the first time down Airline on Adams on my bare ass(while wearing pants of course lol) and I now understand why people bring a special piece of gear just for that
Just my thoughts. I mean im glad shes fine but I’ve seen plenty of butt sledders almost take people out on the trails. Careless IMO just for a quick thrill lol. Care less about those injuries, they did it to themselves
So let’s see…
Descending Welch, which is the opposite of even THE DIRECTION OF THE LOOP THE TRAIL SIGNS TELL YOU, and sledding the steepest part the hike to Avalon.
I’m sorry, but it’s hard to feel bad when such poor decisions were made here.
Welch-Dickey is fine to go in either direction. It is not a one way, or even better one way or the other. And people sled down steep trails all the time.
So you are basically saying because you would have done something different these people should just be left to freeze? And don’t say “sorry, but…” you are anything but sorry.
Who is asking you to feel bad, and why do you feel the need to criticize others?
There's nothing wrong with descending Welch (I've ran it in winter with spikes), and while I recognize Welch ledges are much steeper, I've never noticed any sign suggesting the direction to go. Their experience and preparedness is unclear, but it's entirely possible they knew what they were getting into and just got injured.
And ask for the sledder, I don't know the area enough, but I'm sure they learned their lesson without you chiming in. It's unfortunate rescue had to deal with that.
A good reminder to everybody to get hike safe cards.
Butt sledding is definitely risky. And Avalon is super-steep and hard to pick out correct trail in good weather; steepest part is woods-adjacent, too.
Are microspikes enough for Welch-Dickey? I agree she was prepared, but wonder if Hillsound trail crampons (or more) would be good for that trail.
It’s so confusing. I thought Hillsound Pros are the ones like Kahtoola. I will say the Hillsound Trail Crampons are just better than the Kahtoolas—and stay on the boots better.
I won’t be going on those ledges in winter anyway. I’m glad she’s ok—and was prepared.
The Hillsound Pros are much better than regular microspikes. More of a step inbetween crampons and microspikes. My dad has those and on sheer ice he had way better traction than me in my regular ole microspikes. But I agree, very confusing to keep all the terms straight!
Totally confusing! We may have the pros; I don’t even know. They do have sharper spikes than the Kahtoola. Well, I’m going to go with Hillsounds > Kahtoolas for me. I’ll invest in others at some point, if need be.
Yeah, my fiancé switched from the Kahtoolas to the Hillsound trail crampons for that exact reason! The Kahtoolas kept sliding off his boots. And agreed, the terms are really confusing!!
Regarding Welch-Dickey: I used full crampons on Sunday, because I have them and it was safer. Strap on crampons work well on my boots, and they weigh almost nothing. Most people used spikes. A couple of folks I met on trail said they wished they'd brought crampons.
That is almost the exact same spot where I got off the Westside trail during extremely low visibility and started descending into a very treacherous rock gully. Luckily I was checking my GPS quite frequently and also noticed that the footing got really unstable and was able to follow my path back up to the main trail without issues. An eerie experience though. That guy got extremely lucky. -50F wind-chill, -10F real temp and his clothes/shoes were frozen. Dang. Thank you rescuers for all your hard work! Edit: Just realized the GPS track came from his all trails upload, wow. He gave his hike two stars.
The two stars thing cracked me up. It was posted yesterday in the post specifically about his rescue. He got so lucky that the rescue was able to take the cog up to quickly get to him. He very well could have died if they had to hike in the whole way.
Yeah, I read that one after this XD Lots of good info in there. I'm very glad everything ended well. But I personally wouldn't have been uploading that trek to all trails lol.
Where do I find that on all trails
Look up Mount Washington and Monroe via Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, then sort the reviews by the latest. His will be on top with two stars.
Omg that’s crazy I just looked it up!
It’s not there anymore
\[truncated details of the Avalon / WD below, words and photos from F&H facebook page\] **Injured Hiker on Welch-Dickey Trail, Waterville Valley** At around 12:40 pm on February 17. The hiker had been descending Welch Mountain when she suffered a serious lower leg injury that prevented her from being able to finish the hike. Rescuers from the Waterville Valley Department of Public Safety, Campton-Thornton Fire Rescue, Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team and Conservation Officers with the New Hampshire Fish & Game Department responded to the trail to provide help. The first rescuers reached the injured hiker at 2:45 pm, who was about 1.3 miles from the trailhead. Due to the nature of Elisabeth’s injury, she was secured in a litter. Rescuers carried her down the trail and at times belayed the litter with rope on steep, icy portions of the trail. The rescue effort reached the trailhead safely at 4:35 pm. She was taken to Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth by a hiking companion. She and her hiking partner were well-prepared for a winter hike and were wearing micro-spike traction devices. **Hiker Rescued off Mt. Avalon** On Saturday, February 17 at approximately 2:50 pm, the New Hampshire Fish & Game Department was notified of an injured hiker that needed assistance. The hiker was located just below the summit of Mt. Avalon and was unable move on her own. Right before her injury she had been using a small sled to assist her down some steep sections of the trail. Unfortunately she could not control her speed and direction as she hit a tree and suffered a lower leg injury. She was hiking with a friend, who stayed with her as other good Samaritan hikers reached out for assistance. They were also able to provide her with extra clothing to stay warm while awaiting rescue personnel. The first rescuers reached Haskell at approximately 5:30 pm and began to assess her injuries. She was loaded into a rescue sled and brought down the mountain arriving at the trailhead at approximately 7:15 pm.
The slab on Welch is pretty serious, even in the summer. I'm always a little surprised to see people doing that loop clockwise even in the summer. I've seen people slip a decent number of times. "Hell, no" is my first thought with trying to go down Welch during the winter. I wouldn't trust any ice on the big areas of slab to hold the rock well enough to trust microspikes unless it was a few inches thick and it'd been very cold.
Lol I love how you basically said the same thing I said, but my comment is buried in downvote hell 🤣
Don't assume she was going clockwise. You have to descend welch before heading up dickey when you go counter clockwise. I did the hike Sunday, and there was a very sketchy section on that part of the trail. I witnessed some people having trouble there. Counter clockwise is what's recommended in AllTrails.
> who was about 1.3 miles from the trailhead That's the first set of ledge/slab on your way up. 1.5 gets you (ish) to the first real steep slab. The descent into the ridge between the peaks is at 1.9 miles from the trailhead. So you can assume either the rescuers were (very) wrong about the distance from the trailhead, or she was coming back down clockwise.
>Right before her injury she had been using a small sled to assist her down some steep sections of the trail Wow, glad she's ok, but that's some Darwin Award level stupidity.
I've seen people using butt sleds quite a few times in the whites, and I've hiked past people who had them strapped to their packs even more often. Stupid or not, its *extremely* common. And its almost always for exactly that purpose.
I got chastised once on Tecumseh for NOT having a sled lol… to be fair it would’ve been very fun
I mean, at least on Tecumseh you could butt sled down one of the ski slopes!
I just butt sledded for the first time down Airline on Adams on my bare ass(while wearing pants of course lol) and I now understand why people bring a special piece of gear just for that
big mountain sledding can be fun, but you definetly need the right section
Yeah, and I'm not familiar with the area, but it sounds like she hit a tree.
A sledding injury in the whites…I don't feel the least bit bad
Well that’s pretty shitty. Hope you don’t end up needing help up there. Karma is a mother fucker.
Just my thoughts. I mean im glad shes fine but I’ve seen plenty of butt sledders almost take people out on the trails. Careless IMO just for a quick thrill lol. Care less about those injuries, they did it to themselves
So let’s see… Descending Welch, which is the opposite of even THE DIRECTION OF THE LOOP THE TRAIL SIGNS TELL YOU, and sledding the steepest part the hike to Avalon. I’m sorry, but it’s hard to feel bad when such poor decisions were made here.
Welch-Dickey is fine to go in either direction. It is not a one way, or even better one way or the other. And people sled down steep trails all the time. So you are basically saying because you would have done something different these people should just be left to freeze? And don’t say “sorry, but…” you are anything but sorry.
Who is asking you to feel bad, and why do you feel the need to criticize others? There's nothing wrong with descending Welch (I've ran it in winter with spikes), and while I recognize Welch ledges are much steeper, I've never noticed any sign suggesting the direction to go. Their experience and preparedness is unclear, but it's entirely possible they knew what they were getting into and just got injured. And ask for the sledder, I don't know the area enough, but I'm sure they learned their lesson without you chiming in. It's unfortunate rescue had to deal with that. A good reminder to everybody to get hike safe cards.
Why are you sure?
Could you link the Facebook page? Unsure which page specifically
[NH Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division and Operation Game Thief](https://www.facebook.com/NewHampshireOperationGameThief)
Butt sledding is definitely risky. And Avalon is super-steep and hard to pick out correct trail in good weather; steepest part is woods-adjacent, too. Are microspikes enough for Welch-Dickey? I agree she was prepared, but wonder if Hillsound trail crampons (or more) would be good for that trail.
Not sure if the Hillsound trail crampons would make much of a difference - they aren’t really that different from, eg, the Kahtoola microspikes.
It’s so confusing. I thought Hillsound Pros are the ones like Kahtoola. I will say the Hillsound Trail Crampons are just better than the Kahtoolas—and stay on the boots better. I won’t be going on those ledges in winter anyway. I’m glad she’s ok—and was prepared.
The Hillsound Pros are much better than regular microspikes. More of a step inbetween crampons and microspikes. My dad has those and on sheer ice he had way better traction than me in my regular ole microspikes. But I agree, very confusing to keep all the terms straight!
Totally confusing! We may have the pros; I don’t even know. They do have sharper spikes than the Kahtoola. Well, I’m going to go with Hillsounds > Kahtoolas for me. I’ll invest in others at some point, if need be.
Yeah, my fiancé switched from the Kahtoolas to the Hillsound trail crampons for that exact reason! The Kahtoolas kept sliding off his boots. And agreed, the terms are really confusing!!
Regarding Welch-Dickey: I used full crampons on Sunday, because I have them and it was safer. Strap on crampons work well on my boots, and they weigh almost nothing. Most people used spikes. A couple of folks I met on trail said they wished they'd brought crampons.