[at-l] How to help a newbie part II: Dealing with cold terrain: WAS: Weather Links?

[lparker@cacaphony.net (L. Parker)]

You probably won't NEED full crampons in Feb/Mar in Georgia or North
Carolina. That isn't to say they might not be nice to have. Crampons are for
solid ice covered terrain. Wearing crampons where there is mixed terrain,
broken ice/rock/snow/roots will result in shredded pants at best, or broken
limbs (yours, not the trees) at worst.

Hiking poles or a mountaineering style ice axe (60-80 cm depending upon your
height) would stand you much better than the crampons. I can remember only
two or three sections of trail in Georgia where you could wear snowshoes,
none of which were more than a mile or so long. There were some parts of
North Carolina at higher elevations where they would be handy and maybe the
crampons too. But again, these were relatively short.

I have carried both and carried neither. I've not needed them when I carried
them and needed them when I didn't. Tough call. Just remember - they are
HEAVY.

Lee I Joe

> > My suggestion is not to sweat it.  Forget weather
> > maps and statistical averages.  You need to be
> > prepared for extremes, as you will almost surely
> > encounter extremes.
>
> My friend Bob is leaving February 1, 2003 from Springer.
> I'm asking this out of ignorance of the terrain.  If he were
> going somewhere out west, I'd know how to advise him.  My
> question is this:  What kind of cold weather foot gear will
> he need?
>
> Crampons?  Snowshoes?  Skis?  I'm guessing the crampons are
> a good bet...