I'm considering climbing Mt washington this coming december and I know that the weather is some of the worst around but am curious as to everyones thoughts as to climbing this solo as opposed to going with REI or something. I have no problem using a guide but if its not needed would prefer to save the money.

Thanks

There is no reason to hire a guide. Yes the weather is some of the worst and can be bad, but hiring a guide seems like a horrible use of your money. Of course if you have no experience that you would want to go with a guide. A couple years back I did the traverse in the end of November and found it to be quite straight forward.

YEa i have done some ice climbing but no experience With alpine climbing/mountaineering and would like to not pay for a guide unless absolutly needed.

Post this in the "Eastern States" forum, not "General".

Or better yet, post it on www.neclimbs.com

Cheers,

GO

When you mean "climbing" Mt Washington, do you mean a technical route, ala something, say, in Huntington Ravine?

Or do you mean hiking to the summit on the trail?

Either way, finding a partner would make it funner. A mentor would be nice, but, someone to share with the learnin' would be good too.

Baby steps first, though?

Yeah this seems like a hard question to answer. To some climbing and/or hiking up washington is very straight forward, but to others it can be very difficult. Depending on experience, skills, weather, slow ass people in front of you, drinking too much the night before. There are many variables. If you are doing the lion head trail, it is VERY easy to hike up to the alpine zone, from there decision making and judgement and basic mountaineering skillsets will be key on to continue or not. I feel like weather is really the biggest issue on that route choice (assuming you know and are comfortable with crampon use and self arrest techniques), you can get socked in pretty quick, and if you don't know how to navigate in those conditions it can be very dangerous. I know this doesn't give you an answer, but I hope it helps you figure one out for yourself.