Seeking 17 Peaks: Meet Steward Chris Nichols

By Chris Nichols

Hello Everyone,

My name is Chris, I turned 61 back in February and I will be participating in Seek the Peak 2025. This is my 18th year participating in this great event for a great cause! Each year I try to come up with something different, whether it’s a different trail, a different time of day (I’ve climbed to see the sunrise twice over the years, though I only saw it once), or some other challenge. Before this year, I had participated in Seek the Peak 17 times and had summited Mount Washington 17 times (16 for Seek the Peak; we climbed other mountains in 2020), so I thought, maybe this year I should really push myself and climb Mount Washington 17 more times.

As such, my goal is to climb Mount Washington 17 times before July 19, 2025 (Seek the Peak Weekend).

May 1, 2025 – Summit 1 of 17

On Thursday, May 1, 2025, I summited Mount Washington for the first of seventeen trips. It was a spectacular Spring Day, with temps in the low 40’s on the summit and not too much wind.

I climbed took the Jewel Trail up which had the best trail conditions reports I could find. I had used Jewel to descend many times, but I had never climbed it. Some snow along the way, with a decent monorail for the last ½ mile before tree line. Once above tree line it was smooth sailing to the summit. The facilities aren’t open yet, so time for a picture and a snack, then back down the mountain via the Cog Railway maintenance path (another first). The Cog path was efficient but challenging in places due to deep snow on steep terrain. I passed a train that was waiting at Waumbek Station, and it passed me just before I arrived at the base.

Below are some pictures.

Within the first mile or so, you cross two rivers, which both have nice bridges.

Sometimes signs are encouraging; sometimes they remind you of just how far you have to go.

My first view looking back over to Bretton Woods ski area.

Winter climbers compress the snow along the trail, leaving what is known as the Monorail. At times this was at least four feet high, but vanished completely when I hit the tree line.

Looking roughly West you can see the Cog Railway base, the Mount Washington Hotel, and Bretton Woods. The Southern Presidential Range is on the left.

An early view of the summit, still a few miles away.

Lakes of the Clouds Hut and Mount Monroe.

Just 1.4 miles to go, after climbing 3.7 miles.

Skiers heading for some late back country skiing. The auto road was open, so they drove up and hiked over to ski near Mount Jefferson, they are on the side of Mount Clay.

The Northern Presidential Range.

Look closely and you can see the skiers right in the middle.

The summit! The signs looks to be in rough shape!

Chris Nichols is a longtime friend and supporter of the Observatory as well as a volunteer Steward for Seek the Peak, Mount Washington Observatory’s largest annual fundraiser. You can learn more about Chris on the Seek the Peak Stewards page, and on his social media channels (cnbnichols87).