Group members: Mike Caccavano
I've been looking at Mt. Washington on my drive home all winter and whenever I went alpine skiing at Hoodoo and I was itching to Nordic ski up there, at least to the tree line. On March 9, I loaded up the ATV and drove to Ray Benson Sno-Park. I followed the road that was well packed by snowmobiles up to the west side of Big Lake. Check out my custom ski rack made of PVC pipe.
The weather was excellent although a little warm. I skied across the north end of the lake and then into the trees.
There are occasional glimpses of the mountain through the trees to keep you interested. The slope is gradual at first, but gradually steepens and the ridge narrows. Finally I got out in the open with great views to the north and glimpses of the west ridge as well as some impressive drifts.
I kept skiing until I reached a small knob where the ridge became very narrow. This was a good spot to eat lunch at an elevation of 6210 feet. It was tempting to continue on, but I decided it was a good place to turn around since I was alone, my Nordic skis were not suitable for the narrow ridge and the snow was getting soft for boots alone. One way distance was nearly 3 miles with an elevation gain of 1,540 feet.
View of the north ridge from turnaround point:
View to the south:
Skiing down was interesting because I sank in about 4 inches through a crust making turns difficult. Lower down the fairly close tree spacing also made turns interesting. I only fell about 20 times on the way down although some were sit-downs, the only way to stop. Next time, it would be great to continue higher. That west ridge looks like a good trip too.
