# Mt. Washington Cog Railway - 3/17/2011



## snowmonster (Mar 21, 2011)

*Date(s) Skied: *3/17/2011 (St. Patrick's Day)

*Resort or Ski Area: *Mt. Washington Cog Railway

*Conditions: *Temps in the 40s and 50s, bluebird day. Snow was frozen above Jacob's Ladder turning into corn and heavy mush lower, winds were picking up in the late afternoon.

*Trip Report: * Day One of the Monster Spring Break in the MWV: The forecast called for strong winds up to 100 mph at the summit so I almost bagged this trip. I took a chance because the high winds were supposed to come later in the afternoon. I was rewarded with a really sunny and warm day.

Started skinning from the lower parking lot by 1115. There were four other skiers heading up and we passed each other at different points on the way. I got to Jacob's Ladder a little before 2. A skier climbing ahead of me turned back after getting about 200 above Jacob's  Ladder because it was too icy and windblasted. We considered heading into Burt or Ammo Ravine but, since we didn't get up high enough, we contented ourselves with just looking into Ammo. The wind was starting to pick up at this time so we decided to head down.

The ski down started from solid wind-packed snow to corn to mush as we descended. The cover on the tracks and beside it was still deep and we made long sweeping turns. However, as we got lower, the snow got heavier and grabbier and it was tricky to ski. We ducked into the woods on the left side of the tracks but the heavy snow made it very difficult to turn. We made it back to the car at around 330.

Cog base with Bretton Woods in the background:






Looking up from the Waumbek Tank:





We took the path to the left:





Jacob's Ladder





Looking into Ammo Ravine and Monroe Brook:





We were treated to unusual cloud shapes:





Heading down:





Woods on skiers' left:





Tracks across the tracks:





Must be a UFO:


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## thetrailboss (Mar 21, 2011)

'atta boy!  

No more snowmaking lines beside the Cog?


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## snowmonster (Mar 21, 2011)

^ They're still there and they're starting to poke their heads out of the snow.


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## 2knees (Mar 21, 2011)

awesome shots.


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## thetrailboss (Mar 21, 2011)

snowmonster said:


> ^ They're still there and they're starting to poke their heads out of the snow.


 
Kind of ironic actually considering it has been a few years since they have been used.


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## severine (Mar 21, 2011)

Nice pictorial!


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## skidmarks (Mar 21, 2011)

Nice! Let the games begin!


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## snowmonster (Mar 21, 2011)

2knees said:


> awesome shots.





severine said:


> Nice pictorial!


Thanks, guys. Used a camera phone. It was so beautiful out there, even I couldn't mess up the shots.



skidmarks said:


> Nice! Let the games begin!


I'm thinking of avoiding the annual Tux carnival this year and staying on the west side. Or farther up north in the Presidentials.


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## powpig2002 (Mar 22, 2011)

great


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## tcharron (Jul 5, 2011)

Ironically, I came across this while looking to see if they still DO the cog railway ski lines.  Did they shelve it?  :-(


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## David Metsky (Jul 5, 2011)

tcharron said:


> Ironically, I came across this while looking to see if they still DO the cog railway ski lines.  Did they shelve it?  :-(



Yes, the ski train only ran for one season.  There's not enough useful terrain along the tracks to attract enough skiers to make it worth while.  The area alongside the tracks is still a popular approach for accessing the Great Gulf, but there are far better places to descend.


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