Upcoming Operating Schedules

2014-05-09 21:15:11.000 – Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist

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The summer season on the summit is quickly approaching which always raises several questions from guests itching to get up here. So, I figured now would be a great time to run down all of the useful links to use in order for you to plan your trip(s) to the summit in the days and weeks ahead.

So let us start at the top. The Sherman Adams Visitor Center on the summit of Mount Washington is owned and operated by the Mount Washington State Park. Their operating schedule is available on their website (you can click on the highlighted words to get linked to the various sites I mention).

Our Observatory and our summit museum are housed within the Sherman Adams Visitor Center building and operate with a similar schedule. This past winter we did an extensive overhaul to our museum and summit gift shop. Our new interactive experience, Extreme Mount Washington, will have a preliminary opening later this month with a ribbon cutting scheduled for June 13. To stay informed about this project in the weeks ahead, you can check our Extreme Mount Washington page.

As for transportation, The Mount Washington Cog Railway is currently running to the summit on the weekends. For their operating times, location, and pricing, you can check out their webpage.

Weather permitting, the Mount Washington Auto Road will be opening to treeline starting this weekend. For their operating times, location, and pricing, you can check out their website. And to follow their progress in clearing the road to the summit, you can check out their Facebook page (and an FYI, you don’t need to have an account to read or look at Facebook pages).

Finally, hiking to the summit. For weather, you can check out our Higher Summits Forecast or NWS’s Recreation Forecast for a second opinion. If you want to use a zip code based automated forecasting service, the summit zip code is 03589; just be aware that automated forecasts tend to undershoot winds and overshoot temperatures. If you are considering heading into the neighboring ravines, you can check recent avalanche and snow conditions on the Mount Washington Avalanche Center’s page. If looking for trail conditions, you can use the AMC backcountry weather and trail conditions page or stop by a neighboring AMC visitor Center (Pinkham or Highland) for further information. Additionally, forums like Views From the Top provide trail conditions from various user input. Lastly, if planning to hike, even with summit facilities open and the Cog running this weekend, hikers should be self-reliant just in case weather alters the operating schedule of summit facilities or transportation.

I hope this Observer Comment helps in your planning and hopefully you are looking forward to the summer season just as much as we are.

Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist