Join us on an ambitious hike of Mt. Monroe and Mt. Washington in challenging conditions.

We're planning to hike up via the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail and down via the Jewell Trail. The route is about 10 miles and 4,200 feet of elevation gain, with significant above-treeline travel of about 3.5 miles.

We'll be hiking in challenging conditions. Mt. Washington is getting about a foot of snow during the week, and it'll be snowing another half a foot during our hike. We'll likely be carrying snowshoes, poles, and ice axes. We'll likely have to use snowshoes on the descent (the Jewell trail is not very popular), and potentially on the ascent as well, snowshoeing on steep terrain. If the conditions (visibility, wind, or temps) above treeline are unfavorable, we might have to modify our route (e.g., turn around at the Lake of the Clouds hut when we reach treeline, or only hike Monroe).

This is a good hike for people with experience hiking above treeline in the winter who are looking to do more challenging hikes.

Prerequisites

We don't have strict/inflexible prerequisites, but as a guideline, you should:

• Have done 2+ hikes above treeline (i.e., MITOC C-level) in the winter
• Have experience with snowshoes
• Be in good shape: you should have done a 10+ mile hike with 3,500+ ft elevation gain in the last six months, ideally carrying a pack on the heavier side

If you don't satisfy the prerequisites, but you want to join the trip anyways, you are welcome to enter the trip lottery. We can be flexible on the prereqs depending on your past experience. If you don't satisfy the prereqs listed above, please send an email to the leaders. We want to make sure that this hike is safe and comfortable for everyone who joins.

Logistics

There will be a required pre-trip meeting at 6:15pm on Thursday to review gear and logistics. We'll send details by email after the lottery runs.