Adirondack Peeks Winter 2024

top of the cliffs, Mark, my 17-year-old son, was waiting for him. Mark didn't think Don should go down alone. That makes you feel good as a parent that you've imparted that responsibility on your son. SR: How were the winter peaks differ ent from today? PC: The biggest thing is the use. There were times that my group was the only one to sign the Emmons register dur ing the whole winter climbing season. That doesn't happen anymore. Equip ment has gotten better. People never have to find a route for themselves or break out a trail today if they don’t want to. When there were no routes and no herd paths you would fall into a spruce trap over your head and ex haust yourself trying to get out. That just doesn't happen too often now if you stay on the broken path. SR: Your yellow index cards meticu lously note extensive detail on every hike you have made: mountain stats, the timing at each intersection, arrival time, weather conditions, trail condi tions, hiking companions, and overall hiking time. Your three-ring binder details each of the 46 mountains and your every summit date. When did you begin recording this information? PC: I started in 1970 because it made sense. It was interesting to me and became helpful for others. The re cords help me know so many things. Like when I climbed Giant this week, I knew what my target times were be tween checkpoints and those tell me if I’m on schedule or if I’m behind. On a longer day you can say, you know, we're not going to get Redfield or Cliff today, or we're probably only going to get one today. People call and ask me, hey, how long's it going to take me to get to this mountain via this trail and I can give them specific times and such. SR : What have you learned from these hikes? Does each new round provide new insight into yourself or into the mountains?

What's a Spruce Trap?

emergency medical technician (EMT), which I ended up doing for nine years. Suddenly I realized, “Gee, I've got this many peaks, maybe I should get my winter forty-six.” SR: I read the V-Badge was created in 1948 to encourage college-aged groups to climb the high peaks in win ter. There were several high peaks that supposedly had not yet been climbed in the winter. You could earn the badge by climbing five. Besides Beetle, who was in your hiking crew? PC: Well, let me turn around and look at the pictures on my wall. I hiked with Sharp Swan, #566WV; Don McMul len, #244WV; Kenny Ryba, #1661WV; Jim King, #2304W; Jimmy Kobak, #1791WV; Eddie Bunk, #3052W; Mark Gibson, #225; and Bob Heins, #4492W; Gary Koch, #1137W; Dave

Dresser, #2306W; and there were others who would come and go. The beauty of traveling with a steady group is you know each other’s ca pabilities and you don’t have to worry about them. If I invited someone new, they’d become my responsibility— are they keeping up, do they need a break, are they warm. However, one time I hiked with Patty McCormick, a division one runner from the University of Maine. It was funny because she never broke a sweat, never added or removed clothes, and barely ate or drank all day. I certainly didn’t have to worry about her; she obviously didn’t find the three Sewards in Winter as much of a challenge. Another time I was hik ing with a group and Don McMullen stayed back getting his crampons on to come down the backside of Sad dleback. When Don came over to the

One of Phil's Many Yellow Index Cards

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