"I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office."Thomas Jefferson
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PINKHAM NOTCH, NH - Adventure vacations - with vacationers looking to spend
downtime "out there" - are arguably the fastest growing segment of the vacation market.
But perhaps the fastest growing segment with that "out there" segment is the "soft
adventure" vacation.
Soft adventurers are those who, for whatever the reason, don't necessarily have to climb Everest by lunchtime, don't have kayak the Grand Canyon or canoe Idaho's Snake
River, don't have to spend a week in the wilderness. They want to do something more than browsing a museum or hitting a cluster of outlet stores, something with a little more
get-up-and-go than a cooking class or baking on a beach. They want a vacation that may include a bit more survival than coping with black and white TV or no nearby mall.
Something where frost means more than a poet.
And soft adventurers in increasing numbers have learned to love New Hampshire's White Mountains.
Whether it's schlepping up - and spending a night on - Mount Washington from the
Appalachian Mountain Club base here in Pinkham Notch or getting an introduction to
rock climbing at Chuck Woodman's Profile Mountaineering in North Woodstock, more
and more vacationers each year are enjoying "soft" adventures. Or perhaps a kayaking
or canoe trip with Saco Bound in North Conway.
"They read about Mount Everest and they hear about other extreme adventures, and
they think they'd like to sample like that," Woodman said. "But most people may want to
try something, but they don't want to commit to anything that extreme. Believe me, the
number of people who want to try climbing far exceeds the number who want to hang
from The Old Man."
Rob Burbank of the Appalachian Mountain Club agrees. "There are a lot of different
trends, and maybe some feed into others; there's a big rise in the interest in kayaking
and canoeing. We hear all the time about extreme sport - extreme skiing, extreme this
and that - and there definitely are people who like to push the limit and get bloody and
be extreme...but I think there's a greater number that wants the experience that feels
extreme without the pain."
As an example, he says while there are those, who undeniably prefer the isolation of
spending time in a wilderness area near Mount Washington, there also are far more who
enjoy the chance to hike the highest peak in northeastern North America (elev. 6,288
-more-
feet) and spend a night or two (or three) at one of the AMC huts. Overnight lodging
includes not only a mattress and pillow and blanket but also dinner and breakfast the
next morning, prepared by AMC staffers. And then you're on your way.
"The hut experience is a great for people who want to try something different - perhaps a
greater level of challenge than roadside camping, but easier than heavy-duty
backpacking," Burbank says. "You carry a day pack and some extra clothing, but you
don't need to carry a lot of gear - no cook stove, no heavy stuff."
While there are thru-hikers who savor the opportunity to hike the entire 2,100-plus miles
of the Appalachian Trail between Maine and Georgia, far more prefer the bite-size trails
which spider-web the White Mountains, including the one-day hike from the base of
Mount Washington to the summit and back.
AMC's Teenage Wilderness Programs give youths 13-18 the opportunity to experience
the outdoors for up to two weeks. They learn rock climbing, canoeing, trail maintenance,
backpacking and other skills.
"Over the past 10 years, we're probably up
30 percent or more in our programs and
participation. The programs, of course, represent demand - AMC wants to give people
what they're looking for. People want to learn how to be proficient in outdoor skills, how
to enjoy the outdoors in a safe way. We try to help them hone particular skills - canoeing,
wild mushroom hunting, map use, and so on - and be proficient in general outdoor
skills," Burbank says.
"We want people to be comfortable and to be safe in backcountry. The greater their skill,
the greater their enjoyment and the safer they are."
One pay-back to - and a quasi barometer of - the enjoyment received is the popularity of
AMC's volunteer trail maintenance program where volunteers work on various sections
of a trail or even adopt a trail (right down to signing papers of adoption) and are
responsible for the upkeep of a trail. "People get an immediate sense they're making a
difference. You can stand back at the end of a day and see a rock staircase, for
instance, that wasn't there after breakfast," according to Burbank.
Profile Mountaineering - an obvious reference to the profile of Old Stone face, the
heralded Old Man of the Mountain who hangs above Profile Lake and Franconia Notch -
includes a small rock climbing gym and a variety of programs that take place at several
spots in the White Mountains. It's designed to be an incubator for vacationers who think
they'd like to try various activities. AMC offers beginner to expert workshops and
classes. Meanwhile, Profile's Chuck Woodman gets people started and lets them decide
how far they'll take their new skills.
"The mountains are my bag," says Woodman, who grew up in the region, then moved
back for good after graduating from Plymouth State College. He doesn't try to be all
things to all people; Profile scratches some of the itch vacationers have for less-than-
treacherous activities for soft adventures.
"The White Mountains are the playground for the Northeast. The climbing center is North
Conway; that's where they've got the really serious stuff - EMS [Eastern Mountain
-more-
Sports], IME [International Mountain Equipment] - but I think Lincoln has become a
center for soft adventures. We see a lot of people, who walk in and want to try
something. We do guiding, rent canoes or rent gear, show 'em how to get started
climbing...
"Y'know, this is a whole different world for people who commute to and from their job in
heavy traffic, who probably don't get to see real mountains where they live, or do some
things outdoors like this," Woodman says. "This place looks beautiful from their condo
window, or from their motel window...and the White Mountains definitely are beautiful.
So, we can help them enjoy the mountains just a bit more without having to make any
more of a commitment than they want."
And how much do the mountain mean to Woodman, who was born near Waterville
Valley but moved to southern New Hampshire as a kid when his dad got a job there. "I
moved back here after I got out of Plymouth State," he says, "because this is where I
wanted to be." A distant relative of Darby Field, who's acknowledged as the first white
man to climb Mount Washington in 1642, Woodman felt so strongly about his tie to the
mountains that he named one of his daughters Darby. He adds, almost matter-of-factly,
" These mountains have been in our family's blood for a long time."
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