Took a snocat ride in 1971 up to the top of Mt Washington with about a dozen fellows, inlcluding my Dad, and a guide who was the father of the USA ski team twin Olympic champs, Phil and Tyler Mahre. We skied from the upper snow fields on a clear early May morning all the way back down to the Pinkham lodge. A heavy snow year. I vividly recall stopping at the lip of the headwall, so steep you could not see the slope until pushing off. Suddenly, Tyler did a spread eagle off the center headwall. Crowds cheered. He made it look easy as he went airborne into the ravine. I pushed by several skiers whose fear got the best of them...they froze on the headwall lip, digging ski poles in the way one would use an ice axe. As I shot over the lip, my waist high ski poles were useless...there was no gradual slope within reach...rather a 65 degree vertical, but I stayed up, luckily jumping over a three foot wide crevasse about 100 feet beyond. Moments later, another skier fell into the cravass, sliding 90 feet under the deep cover of melting snow. We knew how far he slid under the snow pack, as the rescuers had 100 feet of climbing rope with only 10 feet left before feeling a tug at the distant end. The rescue was a success. Other than bruises, a few cuts and a thorough drenching in waterfalls under the snow, the man was pulled out. Most are not so lucky. What a day. As visual now after nearly 55 years ago.
You got a nice day on the rock pile......I did an overnight at the observatory back in Dec.'96....hiked up, weather turned bad for next day hike down ..we tried taking the road down but the winds picked up considerably and visibility dropped to near 0 we had to turn around and ended it crawling on our knees near the top....we all got a free extra night and dinner too🤠
Kurt, the Mount Washington Observatory runs the the snow cats. They have limited trips to the summit. Here is a link to their web page with more information. www.mountwashington.org/experience-the-weather/summit-adventures/
A guardrail would get in the way of snow removal. Also it would have little value in the higher elevations. Some of the snow drifts can be over 20 feet. They don't remove the snow down to the gravel surface. They just cut a pass.
Wow, you guys got some stunning weather for the ride to the summit of Mt Washington. Winter is one of the best times to see the farthest from the summit as there is low humidity in the air, in the summer the humidity haze limits viewing distances. Were hikers allowed to go in the observatory/ visitor ctr to warm up, use the restroom, etc?
Kenneth, there are some vans with tracks that only go up to the tree line. The Mount Washington Observatory has multiple snow cats that go to the summit. My understanding is the Vans stop at the tree line because they don't have snow plows. There is a lot of drifting snow.
Took a snocat ride in 1971 up to the top of Mt Washington with about a dozen fellows, inlcluding my Dad, and a guide who was the father of the USA ski team twin Olympic champs, Phil and Tyler Mahre. We skied from the upper snow fields on a clear early May morning all the way back down to the Pinkham lodge. A heavy snow year. I vividly recall stopping at the lip of the headwall, so steep you could not see the slope until pushing off. Suddenly, Tyler did a spread eagle off the center headwall. Crowds cheered. He made it look easy as he went airborne into the ravine. I pushed by several skiers whose fear got the best of them...they froze on the headwall lip, digging ski poles in the way one would use an ice axe. As I shot over the lip, my waist high ski poles were useless...there was no gradual slope within reach...rather a 65 degree vertical, but I stayed up, luckily jumping over a three foot wide crevasse about 100 feet beyond. Moments later, another skier fell into the cravass, sliding 90 feet under the deep cover of melting snow. We knew how far he slid under the snow pack, as the rescuers had 100 feet of climbing rope with only 10 feet left before feeling a tug at the distant end. The rescue was a success. Other than bruises, a few cuts and a thorough drenching in waterfalls under the snow, the man was pulled out. Most are not so lucky. What a day. As visual now after nearly 55 years ago.
What a lovely video, thank you for sharing it with us! 👍👍
You got a nice day on the rock pile......I did an overnight at the observatory back in Dec.'96....hiked up,
weather turned bad for next day hike down ..we tried taking the road down but the winds picked up considerably and visibility dropped to near 0 we had to turn around and ended it crawling on our knees near the top....we all got a free extra night and dinner too🤠
Cool video!
Very enjoyable, thanks for sharing this.
That blue sky!
I guess that would be my dream job; operating the Sno-Cat up & down the mountain...
That snow cat is very interesting. Cool camera as well
Very cool video. Loved the scenery and the fusion was a surprise. Nice demo of it's capabilities.
Much better snow cat than they used in the 80’s , repaired the heat up there once back then . Back when Willy and Martin were on the mountain.
Great ytube channel Joe I have traveled all over the US since I was 10 yrs old it's really nice to see your Adventures 👍👍
Thanks 👍
Good job !! 👍
Great video
Nice work Joe! 🎥🚜🏔 👌
Glad you enjoyed it
That's awesome, thanks for sharing, a great video in recommend from a small youtuber.
Can the public ride up in the snow cat? What a cool video. Thanks for sharing 👍
Kurt, the Mount Washington Observatory runs the the snow cats. They have limited trips to the summit. Here is a link to their web page with more information. www.mountwashington.org/experience-the-weather/summit-adventures/
Went up with Marty Ingstrom in in 1969 a ride to remember and the drifts where at least 30 ft.
I live here in NH. I am very interested in snow cats and similar type vehicles. I would love to go for a ride and see it in person.
Same! Let’s do it bro
I run a cat at Pat's Peak ski area, this year ride alongs are no an option, next year hopefully... Remind me !
Awesome vid!
very cool. i live out west. with a honda pioneer 1000. great place! sometimes you can do this!
very cool thank you N.H.
I'm surprised that there are no guardrails. Why is that?
A guardrail would get in the way of snow removal. Also it would have little value in the higher elevations. Some of the snow drifts can be over 20 feet. They don't remove the snow down to the gravel surface. They just cut a pass.
Been There a few times
Wow, you guys got some stunning weather for the ride to the summit of Mt Washington. Winter is one of the best times to see the farthest from the summit as there is low humidity in the air, in the summer the humidity haze limits viewing distances. Were hikers allowed to go in the observatory/ visitor ctr to warm up, use the restroom, etc?
Chris, The observatory/ visitor center was close to the public.
Which ski resort is that?
Wildcat
i thought they only went 2 treeline in winter?.
Kenneth, there are some vans with tracks that only go up to the tree line. The Mount Washington Observatory has multiple snow cats that go to the summit. My understanding is the Vans stop at the tree line because they don't have snow plows. There is a lot of drifting snow.
The Snowcoaches stop at tree line, 4000' elevation. State law.
I see you published this in March, when did you film this?
Jason, it was in March. We had perfect weather.
3:41 timestamp at the jacket 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Go8nb down in a car car was something else. Never again!
congrats you just made it to the elevation of cheyenne wyoming good video
so this was a non-commercial sno-cat trip?
Nice sun. Looks a bit dodgy
Thanks for the video.... not a bomb-ba-deer though... bomb-bar-dee-A
TOO Wide of A Lens angle Shame the Video was not Better WAY too much Distortion : (
Jokes on you, I played the video 2x.