Are you looking for a challenge? Join us on an ambitious hike breaking trail on a rarely-traveled path up Mt. Madison.

We're prioritizing MIT students for this hike. This trip is only open to MIT students (undergrads and grad students) during the lottery period. Those who are not MIT students are welcome to sign up after Wednesday at 12pm after the lottery has run — there may still be spots open.

We'll start at the Appalachia Trailhead, get onto the Howker Ridge Trail, and take that all the way to the summit of Mt. Madison. The route is about 9 miles with 4,300 feet of elevation gain, with significant above-treeline travel.

We'll be hiking in challenging conditions. This route is rarely traveled in the winter, and it's snowing a lot in the week prior to our hike, so we'll likely be breaking trail the whole way up, hiking through deep powder.

This is a great hike for people who are fit, have experience hiking above treeline, and are looking to do a challenging hike. Breaking trail through fresh powder is an amazing experience!

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 hiked ≥ 6 miles while wearing snowshoes, at least twice
• Have hiked ≥ 2000 feet of elevation gain while wearing snowshoes, at least once
• Have hiked in windchill of < -20°F at least once
• Be in good shape: you should have done a hike with ≥ 3,500 feet elevation gain in the last four months

If you do satisfy these prereqs, you're a great fit for this trip!

If you don't satisfy the prereqs, 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 6:30pm on Thursday to review gear and logistics, in the student center (W20). We'll send details by email after the lottery runs.

We will need a couple drivers for this trip! Please update your car status if you can drive (put "willing to rent" if you can rent — MIT provides discounted car rental, and we'll evenly split rental/gas costs).