Mt. Washington winter ascent info wanted!

I'm looking to hike/climb Mt. Washington this weekend but have not been able to find much information on the best winter route.

Anybody have any beta?

If you check out neclimbs.com/ you should be able to get good local information. The site caters especially to people from the area.

The forecast for tomorrow is:
"In the clouds with a slight chance of snow showers. Wind chills 25-35 below.

Highs: around 0°F

Wind: WNW 30-50 mph increasing to 40-60 mph with higher gusts"

Sounds balmy :) Winds were in the solid triple digits a few days ago.

I'm guessing you're talking about Mt. Washington in Oregon not the one in Maine or wherever that hill is they call a mountain. I've only done it in the summer so sorry if none of this is new. The North ridge should definitely be the easiest but I imagine it's covered in rime already so you'd have to dig for decent pro which is mediocre at best. There's the first technical section you get to at the summit pinnacle which is vertical and then there's another steep (but not vertical) section right before topping out. I hope I'm wrong but I doubt there's any real ice to get a screw in at this point in the year.

If you get up there, report back!

keep-it-real wrote:I'm guessing you're talking about Mt. Washington in Oregon not the one in Maine or wherever that hill is they call a mountain.

My guess is there are many more MP'ers who know details and dangers of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire well before any unknown mountain in Oregon. Respect the East Coast for the challenges it provides!

Woodchuck ATC wrote:My guess is there are many more MP'ers who know details and dangers of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire well before any unknown mountain in Oregon. Respect the East Coast for the challenges it provides!

Doh!, lol. I forgot about the other Washingtons and didn't even notice this was in the Pacific NW forum.

I have friends who trained on Mt Washington in NH by getting used to the worst conditions and when they got to Denali early season it was no problem for them when everybody else was bailing because it was too cold. So yes, it might be small, but it sticks right into the winter jet stream and is at the intersection of two storm tracks. The results are Antarctic like conditions with average daily wind speeds of 44 MPH with hurricane winds over 100 days out of the year and temps down to -46 degrees F. It can be pretty brutal for a hill.

keep-it-real wrote:I'm guessing you're talking about Mt. Washington in Oregon not the one in Maine or wherever that hill is they call a mountain.

Yeah, still looking for info on winter routes for OREGON'S Mt. Washington. Thanks!

Eric, I live in your area and wouldn't mind going up Mt. Washington with you. I've done it in the spring, not winter, but the pack this year is pretty thin. North rib is definitely the easiest route.

Hey Eric,
I climbed the North Ridge a number of winters ago in December (06) when there was far more snow and found excellent thin ice/rime. I doubt you'll find those conditions now, but haven't had eyes on it recently so don't really know. Here are some pics.

Hey Max,

Looking to climb Washington in Oregon this weekend. Thanks for the pictures!. I was wondering if you used ice screws? Also wondering if you wore crampons on the vertical summit push?

Bud