Zooming in on Mount Washington

Local climber is a filmmaker with a passion for Tuckerman Ravine

As this past February's issue of National Geographic illustrated in an article entitled, Backyard Arctic, Mount Washington is an icon in the minds of all New Englanders, right up there with Plymouth Rock and Fenway Park. The 6,288-foot Rockpile for the past three years has been something of an obsession for local climbing guide, musician and videographer Alain Comeau of Brownfield, Maine. He's putting together a DVD of Mount Washington.I just can't stop shooting. I have so much footage. I really need to say I've got enough, and to start editing so I can get something out on DVD by the end of the year, said Comeau in a recent telephone interview. Originally from the Boston area, Comeau has been a guide in Mount Washington Valley for 35 years, and frequently handles wintertraining for members of the armed forces.I originally learned to climb so I could safely ascend steeper routes that I wanted to ski. But then, the climbing took hold of me and I realized there is a whole new world here, said Comeau, who says he goes up to Tuckerman Ravine or its ice-climbing neighbor, Huntington Ravine, frequently. He is a team leader of the volunteer Mountain Rescue Service, the local coalition of climbers who are often called in all kinds of weather to aid in mountain rescues in the White Mountains.I love to go into the mountains on my days off and usually bring my camera," said Comeau. "Yesterday I went up Lafayette and the summit was above the clouds as a storm was approaching. It was breathtaking."Comeau is a quietly pensive, analytical climber with a passion for the White Mountains, art and music. (He runs a recording studio out of his Brownfield farmhouse, working with many local artists. He has a few CDs to his credit.)His rescue work initiated his current DVD project. As he related when we encountered him at the base of the Tuckerman Ravine Trail last year, the day of that year's Friends of Tuckerman Mount Washington Inferno Pentathlon, I decided to work on the project because of all my experiences dealing with the harsh conditions on Mount Washington, especially in winter. My main goal was to create an educational film to raise awareness about Mount Washington, both its beauty and its dangerous winter weather. But then, laughed Comeau, I started to shoot all that footage of spring skiing in Tuckerman Ravine. No one has covered the whole ravine scene, which is such a unique experience, as a videographer. There on the trail ahead, next to and around us, was the annual spring circus of Tuckerman devotees, some porting skis and snowboards; others just along for the hike and the joys of watching skiers in the ravine from Lunch Rocks and other locales in the snow bowl that is Tuckerman. Heading to the ravine, a glacial cirque located on the eastern shoulder of Mount Washington, is an annual pilgrimage for many. Last year, for the Friends of Tuckerman Inferno, for example, on a day that was sunny and offering bluebird conditions, there were an estimated 4,200 in the ravine, carrying out the spring ritual just as they have since the late 1920s. Comeau says the the ravine's lure as a ski destination on a sunny day, combined with its dangerous unpredictability, makes it a compelling subject. People go up there, and even though the forest service snow rangers and the Mount Washington volunteer ski patrol warn them of the dangers of falling ice, crevasses, avalanche and more, they don't always pay attention, or realize the seriousness of situation," said Comeau. The fact, I think, that the weather can change so quickly up there and how severe the weather can be, and the fact that so many people have lost their lives up there, even with all the information and condition reports available to them, it never fails to amaze me. It's a place that is accessible to so many people, just like the National Geographic article, Backyard Arctic, pointed out. Whether on foot at all times of the year, or by taking the Cog Railway or the Mount Washington Auto Road in warmer months, people are drawn to the mountain. It is the tallest peak in the Northeast, home to the World's Worst Weather, as the non-profit Mount Washington Observatory proudly boasts, and, on April 12, 1934, site of the world record wind of 213 mph. It was also on Mount Washington where then 19-year-old Austrian skiing sensation Toni Matt recorded his remarkable and never-equaled schuss of the 800-foot high, steep Tuckerman headwall in the 1939 Mount Washington Inferno on April 16, 1939. The 70th anniversary of that top-to-bottom schuss will be celebrated when the ninth annual Friends of Tuckerman Ravine Inferno Pentathlon is held this April 18. I call Mount Washington the Great Attractor. It's like the centerpiece in the dining room of outdoors New England. it's not very spectacular when compared to Everest, or the Matterhorn, but the fact is it is here, and it has some of the world's worst weather there's something unique about it that just draws people. There is so much energy there, especially in spring, said Comeau.The problem, he underscores, is that not everyone is prepared, and people often make poor decisions not just on Mount Washington but throughout the White Mountains. I was up on Lafayette with Fish and Game, and ABC 20-20 last week. They are doing a piece on whether sates should charge for mountain rescues. These two guys were starting up at noon with sticks and running shoes to hike the Franconia Ridge. It was winter conditions above treeline!ABC interviewed them, and they said they knew what they were doing. I said, you've got to be kidding! Although it was a beautiful day, thats no excuse for not always being properly prepared for such an undertaking. It was on that day, March 21, a few years ago that a hiker died to exposure and another one last year," said Comeau. He hopes to include on his DVD lessons about Mount Washington's dangers along with footage of its thrills and spills. As I said, I want it to be educational and entertaining and inspiring. said Comeau.A gifted composer and performer, Comeau has scored some of the music for his DVD projects himself.In addition to the Mount Washington projects, he said he recently completed a short piece, "The Net Maker," on local Jeff Flagg, who owns the Stone Mountain Performing Arts Center with his wife, musician-singer Carol Noonan. Noonan provided much of the music for that DVD. The barn that is now Stone Mountain used to be his net shop, and I did this video special for them. It was a fun little project, said Comeau, who lives just up the road from Stone Mountain in rural Brownfield.He notes that that Mount Washington serves as a focal point for everyone in Mount Washington Valley, including himself.You never tire of that mountain I've been up there hundreds of times, and it is never the same. The weather always gives you something new, or there's a new angle. I love the wind, and the mountain is always inspiring, interesting, and you meet some very interesting people, said Comeau.With always more projects in the works, look for him next time you head up to the ravine. He'll be the kinetic guy with the video camera, dashing about, fueling an addiction to record Mount Washington's many moods in all its glory, caught in his own spring fever Tuckerman -style. For more information about conditions in Tuckerman Ravine, go to www.tuckerman.org, www.friendsoftuckerman.org or www.outdoors.org.