Hut Trip Report

One word = COLD. And I don't mean just a little cold. I am talking top of Mt. Everest cold. It was -10 degrees when we left the truck and the wind was blowing 30-50 mph (making the wind chill about -50). To make matters worse it was also snowing. Things took a turn for the worst when we got to the top of ptarmigan hill (12,500 ft). It was white out conditions and our group of 4 got separated. Luckily we had radios so we were able to reconnect after dropping back down to treeline, but 3 of us were well off the trail and it took about 3 hours to navigate back to the correct path and to the hut from there. And it was dark when we arrived! Steve and his son Dan had to drop their packs and go back for them the next day.
Learned a lot from this trip. 1. Never head out in these type of conditions....too dangerous with little reward. Even though we made it to the hut we were so beat and frostbitten that we spent the next day recovering rather than skiing 2. Skiing, rather than snowshoeing, is the best way to go, but even though loosening the buckles on your boots makes it feel more comfortable, you will loose your toenails from jamming them into the end. 3. Pack as light as possible!

Dugan is still talking to me....but I think it will be a while before we hear from Steve! Will probably do another hut trip next year, but I'll never do it in those conditions again!