02/19/2024
Quick but important PSA: we have been hearing some troubling accounts of hikers planning and in some cases attempting to summit Mt. Washington via Tuckerman Ravine this winter. This hiking route should never be attempted during winter conditions in the bowl without a high degree of specialized training and gear - the terrain contains numerous potential hazards, the greatest of which being avalanches. We cannot underscore enough that summitting Mt. Washington in winter is a serious undertaking not to be taken lightly. A significant amount of planning and preparation should precede any attempt to summit in winter, including consulting with experts, reading reference materials, and checking relevant conditions such as mountain weather and avalanche risk (see: Mount Washington Observatory, Mount Washington Avalanche Center). We have some reason to suspect online trail apps/sites may be a primary resource that some hikers are relying on for their information; we would urge hikers to treat these as a secondary or tertiary source of information that paint an incomplete picture of trail systems and mountain conditions (while sometimes offering useful granular information in the form of recent user reviews). If you are interested in growing your awareness and building skills in winter hiking and mountaineering, our staff at Pinkham, as well as our many peer and partner organizations throughout the White Mountain region, would be more than happy to speak with you.
Photo credit πΈ patthehiker on Instagram