Safe Winter Hiking in the White Mountains

Our guides all agree: winter hiking is their favorite. And with thousands of cumulative hours doing it, here are some safe winter hiking tips to start the season.

Though we’ve seen unseasonably warm and dry conditions for the past couple months here in New England, it’s best to pack for a hike in the White Mountains anytime after early October with the expectation that winter conditions may occur. 

Planning carefully and packing appropriately will keep you safe, comfortable, happy, and go a long way in preventing accidents and injuries. One thing we’ve learned with all our time exploring the Whites: safety stems from consistent and thorough application of a few simple principles.  So here are our basic winter hiking safety tips…

Watch the weather. Always check the weather the night before and the morning of your hike.  Weather changes rapidly, and also is vastly different below treeline versus above treeline, especially in the Presidential Range and on long exposure hikes like Franconia Ridge.  We use the MWOBS Higher Summits Forecast for higher elevation weather and the National Weather Service as our base forecast tool. Some other helpful sites are Mountain-Forecast.com and Tropical Tidbits to confirm the information you find and drill down a bit more on precipitation, sky exposure, and winds above treeline. If you want to get real nerdy, (we sure do), read the discussion section of the forecasts to truly dial-in on weather patterns and understand how conditions in the higher elevations shift.

Dress accordingly. Even in cold conditions, you’ll generate a lot of body heat on your hike, so you want breathable base layers plus mid- and outer-layers that you can easily add/subtract based on your body temperature. The goal of layering is to prevent sweating; the moisture on your skin from sweat makes it much harder for your body to warm back up when cold, strong winds at higher elevation hit your body. We recommend a merino wool or synthetic close-fitting base layer, a half-zip or full-zip midweight sweater, a midweight down layer, and a hard shell to block wind and precipitation. An extra heavy-duty packable insulator like a down jacket is a great idea, too–even if it’s just to throw on for a few minutes while you hang out on the summit taking photos. Shameless promotion to our gear partners Minus33 and Fjallraven who make exceptional hiking apparel

Pack smart. Overpacking isn’t smart packing! An 80-liter pack for a day hike will just slow you down and expose you to colder conditions for longer. But you also don’t want to skimp on the essentials. You can fit everything you need for a winter day-hike in and on a 28-liter day pack, which includes:

• Safety items:  First aid kit, multi tool, headlamp, fire starter, emergency blanket, hand & foot warmers, wag bag
• Nutrition:  Food, water, electrolytes, energy supplements
• Warmth:  Liner gloves, heavy gloves, neck gaiter, winter hat, goggles
• Traction:  Microspikes, hiking crampons, snowshoes, trekking poles

You'll see everything for a winter hike laid out neatly in the photo below. We're not just suckers for organization: getting eyes on everything you need to pack the night before is a great way to make sure you're not scrambling, bleary-eyed the next morning when you're inevitably up very early to get out to the mountains. You're less likely to overpack and also less likely to forget something important. A note on your phone you can use as a checklist is a great way to dial-in your packing! 

Bring a friend. We don’t recommend winter hiking alone, even for the most experienced and accomplished hikers. Exposure to winter conditions could make even the most minor injury much more dangerous, especially above treeline. In warmer months, a rolled ankle may just mean a bit of rest, some Advil, and a slower hike. In the winter, that bit of rest and slower pace will lead to prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures and the potential to be hiking out in the dark. Being with a companion assures you have at the very least a shoulder to lean on, assistance with triaging minor injuries, and in a worse scenario, someone who can call for help and keep you safe and warm while you wait.  Going it alone can be a magical experience and helps lots of people find solace and peace in nature, but it creates heightened risk in frigid conditions. Keep the solo hikes to warmer months! 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, let’s circle back to our very first tip about checking the weather.  If you check and the weather is hazardous, just don’t go.  That’s it. When MWOBS says that winds are gusting at 100 MPH above treeline and windchill is -39 degrees, just don’t go.  Stay home, sip some tea, watch movies, cook something nice, and enjoy not being in dangerous conditions. Winter hiking is our absolute favorite–but the mountains will always be there. So wait til it’s safe. And if you want a guide to lead the way, keep you company, show you the best trails and provide you with all the gear you need, you can always come out with us!