WINTER PATCH SPRINT Season's First Attempt Falls Short

Willsboro, NY, January 18-- Winter Patch Sprint pioneer John Rayburn, along with race veteran Kathleen Wiley made an unsuccessful attempt on the Winter Patch Sprint.  The duo was thwarted following completion of the first two mountains.  The year's first atttempt at the winter patch took place in light snow and amidst a lingering cold snap in the Adirondack Mountains.      "We were originally going to hike on Saturday," said Rayburn,  but Sunday was forecasted to be 10 degrees warmer.  (It did get up to about 20 degrees.)  "It snowed all morning, but there was less wind than on Saturday, which was a good thing on the Rattlesnake ridge."

The climbers had assistance from Pok-O-MacCready camp alumni Andy and Billy Paine.  The former Patch Sprint volunteers served as a support crew in radio contact tracking progress from base camp (the Poko-Queen.).  "Andy gave us the 'Uh... Go'.  Kathleen opted for snowshoes on Bare, but I went with crampons.  I thought I had made the better choice going up to the bare spot, but from the bare spot to the top the snow was deep, and Kathleen had the advantage.  We headed back down the main trail to the boat landing and I changed to snowshoes too.  We cut across the boating bay, past the Grey House to Echo Lake Camps.  The trail up Rattlesnake was actually pretty nicely packed, so we made good time with the snowshoes, although we had to cut way around the cliffs to the left just below the ridge."       Rayburn, who had sprained his ankle in December, began feeling the effects on the descent of Rattlesnake.  "I was sure that I would make it across the lake to Marsh Landing, but if I bailed on Sugarloaf we would have to hike out to the Whites to get picked up, so I called base camp and had them pick us up at the at the Rattlesnake trail head."       The duo recorded summit times of 43 minutes for Bare, and 2:30 for Rattlesnake, and despite falling short of their goal, they "celebrated at the North End.  Nobody there but me, Kathleen, the Paine boys and Bunny, so we told Kathleen that we had rented the place out for her birthday.  Bunny even gave her a free beer."

In 1991, Rayburn made the first recorded successful atttempt at the Pok-O Patch in winter, completing a round trip in approximately 12 hours.  Since then, the time has been bettered to just over three hours.  Climbers have until March 21 to make the attempt.  (CLICK HERE for detailed information on making a winter Patch Sprint attempt.)

EARLY REGISTRATION is active, with participants from as far away as Scotland and Washington D.C. already signed on for the 2009 Patch Sprint.      To learn more about this year's event, go to the FAQ or ESSENTIAL INFORMATION sections of this web site.

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