Gaming The Ham Radio System: Summits-On-The-Air (SOTA) Winter Bonus Points
SOTA ain’t easy. Summits-On-The-Air is a game with essentially one prize for radio hikers: The Mountain Goat. In order to become a Mountain Goat, you need to “activate” (the term used for hiking up a mountain and operating an amateur radio from its summit) enough mountains to get 1000 points. Based on elevation, the shortest mountains are 1 point and the tallest mountains are 10 points. So, with that in mind, you need to hike a minimum of 100 mountains in order to achieve Goat status…well, sort of…
(That above is the the summit of Overlook Mountain W2/GC-112 in the Catskills in NY after a December ice storm.)
So in order to be considered a summit for SOTA, the peak needs to rise at least 492 feet in prominence above the surrounding terrain. In New England, a region dubbed “Association W1” in SOTA lingo, you get 1 point for peaks less than 2625 feet above sea level, 2 points if over 2625 feet, 4 points if over 2953 feet, 6 points if over 3281 feet, 8 points if over 3609 feet, and 10 points if over 3937 feet. Now consider that in Massachusetts, Mt. Greylock is the tallest mountain at 3491 feet, i.e. worth only 6 SOTA points. Berlin Mountain, at 2818 feet, is the next tallest SOTA summit in Massachusetts, and worth only 2 points. Misery Mountain is also a 2 pointer. That’s it. The rest of the mountains in Massachusetts are worth 1 SOTA point. So, in essence, it may take a ham a thousand hikes up these mountains in order to become a SOTA Goat.
(That is a ranger station on top of Overlook Mountain. I am about to set up a shelter on the porch to operate out of the wind. It is about 25 degrees with all surfaces covered in ice.)
There are less than 200 hams in New England that participate in SOTA, a program that has been around since 2002 with W1 Association coming on board in 2009. In 12 years, only 9 hams that call New England their qth have managed to become Mountain Goats. Compare that to 629 amateur radio operators (out of a total of 8953 SOTA participants) worldwide that boast the SOTA Goat award. Even so, its a really small number of participants. A rather exclusive club of mountaineers. And one I am happy to be a part of, and deeply crave getting the Mountain Goat Award.
(There’s the windbreak on Overlook. I use whatever is available to help out with our activations. A tarp is an incredibly useful tool when hiking in the winter.)
(That is AA1F and Nellie operating from within the shelter on Ovelook. Note the insulated ground pad they are both on. You lose a ton of heat sitting directly on a cold surface. Also, Nellie has her own 20 degree sleeping bag that she is wrapped in.)
(And me hiding/operating in the shanty…)
So, where do I stand? I am currently the 20th all-time activator in W1 with 215 SOTA points. These were achieved by hiking 54 mountains in a little over 2 years. At this rate, it will take me 7 or 8 more years to get my Goat and about 200 more successfully activated mountains. So, I need to game the system where I can…
(You are looking at the summit of Mount Kearsarge from the base. Can’t see it? It’s in that cloud! At least I think it is… I can’t see it either.)
Enter “Winter Bonus Points”… It turns out that between December 1st and March 15th in W1 and W2, you can claim 3 winter bonus points per SOTA peak taller than 2625 feet. This means that you can earn a max of 13 points per peak, and thus theoretically achieve your Mount Goat award with a minimum of 77 summit activations…in winter…on the tallest, toughest peaks. But it also means some of the easier hikes are worth more points, and this can be utilized to a SOTA peakbagger’s advantage…
(That’s me and AA1F on the summit of Mt. Kearsarge W1/HA-010 in Warner NH. It is freezing, about 20F, and extremely windy, In fact, we are having trouble keeping our eyes open for this shot it is so windy. If you are thinking we are alpha hotels for not inviting you, don’t. We are going again before March! And you would have froze to death, you know who you are!)
The SOTA calendar resets every New Years. You can only activate for points a given summit once every year. (Could they have made this program any harder???) But in the case of winter bonus points, it means you can activate a peak twice a winter for extra points. For example, Mt. Kearsarge, a 2 point mountain was worth 5 points for us. Mt. Overlook, a 4-pointer, was worth 7 points. And we will activate them both again in early 2022.
(Here is another view near the bald summit of Mt. Kearsarge.)
Another rule of SOTA is that you need to operate in what is called the “Activation Zone” of the summit. This means that you need to operate within 82 vertical feet (25 meters) from the exact summit. For example, Mt. Kearsarge has an elevation of 2937 feet, where AA1F and I chose to operate needed to be above 2855 feet in order to be considered a true activation. On Mt. Kearsarge, the bald summit itself was too unpleasant to operate from, so we ducked into the trees and set up within the activation zone.
(We used a sign post to tie down one end of our antenna on Mt. Kearsarge. I like using both what nature and man provide in order to help with an activation!)
(Look carefully and you can see the 20M EFHW antenna wire and coax making there way back to our tarp shelter).
A simple lightweight tarp with tie-down points across the ridgeline and around all the edges is an extremely versatile and useful tool when hiking for SOTA. Many winter hikers do not spend a lot of time on the summit, but for obvious reasons, SOTA activators will. This means that setting up a form of shelter is a good idea. A tarp is best used as a dry place to put gear and as a windbreak. This is me getting ready to set up the radio on Mt. Kearsarge above. The tarp is simply strung across a paracord line between trees and fashioned in an L-shape with the wind to our backs. The gear (and our bodies) holds it in place. Very simple to set up.
(AA1F is activating Mt. Kearsarge.)
Another thing to remember about SOTA is that many mountains are part of public parks, recreation areas, and conservation land as well. This means that activations on top of a mountain may also count as Parks-On-The-Air (POTA) activations. For SOTA you need 4 contacts, whereas for POTA you need 10 in order to count as an activation. Despite our squirrelly looking antenna set-up, I made 10 qsos and AA1F made 17. AA1F was able to log his in as two additional POTA activations, something I am not as concerned with as my main concentration is on SOTA.
(Here is a pic of my activation of Mt. Kearsarge).
In total, each hike was about 5 miles round-trip. Although the outdoors- including winter hiking- is getting more popular in general, there are typically still fewer people around after the snow falls. Safe winter hiking is an extremely pleasant experience with a certain softness a blanket of snow creates. It is also profoundly dangerous if you do not have the right equipment, and sometimes even when you do. It is really easy to underestimate the effect of relentless cold weather with no relief. Anyone getting involved in these types of activities should both do their homework and build up there experience. It is very easy to get overconfident and underprepared in a way that you can live through in the summer months.
I’ll leave you with the smallest bit of bathroom humor…Even in the winter, the New Hampshire Mountains are so darn crowded you need to make a reservation to use a porta potty! I know, its a dumb joke, haha, but don’t think I didn’t notice you chuckle!
Yours Truly,
KM1NDY
(..and you thought I was kidding!)