"We are so back" - 11/6/25

By Greg McMillan

With a snowy overnight forecast and turns having already been made in Pinkham, Kyle and I decided to scratch the itch and head up for a little pre-season "skiing". Rain turned to sleet, and sleet turned to snow as we drove up into the Notch. It was fairly windy with low visibility when we hit the trail around 6:30am.

We opted to start out ascending the Sherburne Ski Trail to avoid the switchbacks but crossed over onto the Tuckerman Ravine Trail shortly thereafter, following the footsteps of another group in front of us. A wintery mix persisted until around 2,900 feet or so where we slapped skins on at 3,200 ft. Caretaker Jim reported 5.5 inches of snow overnight for a season total of roughly 15". 

Skinning was smooth until Hermit Lake with a couple little water bars or step-ups that required a bit of finessing to get over. Once at Hermit, we met up with a few familiar faces and had a cup of joe before layering up and heading back down.

The top third of the trail was silky smooth with few rocks encountered which made for pleasant powder wiggles. Just past the first windy corner we encountered some sharks and started to notice the snow becoming a bit more grabby. We made a few more turns before crossing over just above the switchbacks at around 2,500 ft and walked down from there.

* It is still early season so please be careful! There are plenty of hazards to mitigate such as running water, fallen branches, and rocks in abundance. Be light on your feet and stick to those rock skis for now.

Expectations were low and stoke was high—cheers to a great 25/26 Winter here in the Whites!!