Glissading spots on Mount Washington

[jethro]

Besides the usual one down LH winter route (which isn't much of a prize), does anyone either:

1) Glissade off the southeast snow fields on the summit cone? Coming off the summit you have to go off-trail a little bit to the east to find the snow fields that run out into the alpine garden, but I never seem to find a good chute without exposed rocks.

2) Can you control yourself glissading down one of the gullies (I presume right gully or lobster claw are probably the safer bets)? My problem is since I don't ski, I have a hard time locating these gullies from the lion's head trail.

 

[Mark]

Ammo side

I don't know if you are limiting your question to the east side of Washington, but there is a good section of the Ammonoosuc trail that might be good for butt sliding given the right conditions. Descending from the LOC hut, the steepest section starts at the 4200 foot level just after you pass over the open ledges, about 0.6 miles from the hut. From that point to the Gem Pool at 3500 feet, the trail is fairly steep. We tried butt sliding down last week, but the snow was just a little too cold and unconsolidated for many good runs.

 

[ADK4Life]

Nothing beats glissading on a nice winter day

 

[jethro]

I actually did come down the Ammo for the first time just this last Thursday; it was a luge track on the way up but unfortunately it softened up quite a bit by the afternoon - still caught a few good runs.

My curiosity now is more so in climbing (non-technical) one of the gullies and then trying to glissade into the ravine on the way down; is this significantly more dangerous than taking the LH winter route if avvy risk is posted as low?

 

[el-bagr]

I would say that it is possibly more dangerous to drop into one of the gullies -- particularly if you made the mistake of forgetting crampons. After the sun leaves the gullies, they can quickly turn to luge chutes. LH is a more beaten path and gets sun later in the evening. Of course, skiers descend the gullies by sliding all the time.

 

[Jim lombard]

I can personally vouch for Ammonusuc ravine. The section above Gem Pool is excellent!

 

[jfb]

I've glissaded down the snowfields on the east side of the summit, it usually required self-arresting a few times and walking across the slope to another line to continue. I've also glissaded down the Ravine of Raymond Cataract, from the point on the ridge where the summer trail first meets the ridge (on the way up) right down to the elevation of the fire road between the TRT and the Harvard Cabin. That was before the current winter trail was built. We were fortunate that there was snow covering the waterfall at the bottom of the ravine and also fortunate the whole thing didn't avalanche.