UKH

It's another "plan my holiday for me" post, I'm afraid...

My other half has got some funding to go and do a couple of weeks of research in the States some time between now and Easter. Given how long this sort of stuff takes to plan, that probably means December to March. She'll be pottering around a couple of archives in New England, and then I'll probably fly out to join her for a week or so.

So the basic question is, is anything outdoorsy particularly good to do in or near New England at that time of year? We do Scottish-style winter walking but not proper winter climbing - are there any interesting walking options? And we haven't skied before, but one thing we've been thinking about is having a bash at that. Any other ideas?

I'm not too bothered about trying to get on rock, since as far as I can tell, that would involve a) humping a load of gear across the Atlantic, b) heading a long way south and/or west and c) neither of us being good enough (I'm an HS / VS bumbly, basically) to get on particularly classic routes anyway. We'll probably work a bit of city / culture tourism into the trip at some point as well.

Thanks!

In reply to Ramblin dave:

It varies massively.. this winter was super snowy. Loads of walking options, but you'd need snow shoes. The white mountains are awesome, NH/Maine.. but then you also have the mountains of NY, catskills etc.

This is pretty typical white mountain terrain, like the eastern highlands, but with trees below 4000 ft.

http://iainsrunning.blogspot.com/2014/06/pemigewasset-loop.html

The huts are all closed at that time of year I think. The skiing is good but its often icey, but there are plenty of good areas in Maine and NH. It is proper winter up there so you'd need axes/crampons etc and very warm clothing. Temps well below -10 aren't uncommon but that time of year it can be anything.

I'd not climb tbh, that time of year is cold, often wet. It depends when the melt happens. then you get mud season. This year that wasn't until well into April. There is good climbing/bouldering out in NE but plenty of hiking options.

XC skiing would be worth a bash too. If you went to somewhere ilk Lincoln NH you'd have loads of options.

Acadia in Maine would be another area for lower level hiking, but I'd go there in the fall. There are loads of lower level hiking options down in MA, berkshires etc if its too cold. Hiking a section of the AT is always good fun up there. You get sleeping platforms and shelters which should be OK to use.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Part of the Appalachian Trail?

In reply to Ramblin dave:

I wouldnt actually book that much, just flights and a car until a few weeks before, that'll give you an idea of where conditions are good, and what you could get done. From Boston 4-5 hours either way and you have a fair amount of options.

Liftopia is good for lift tickets and need to be bought 3 days in advance, it does save you a chunk, but you can leave them til later, especially if its midweek.

If you watch web cams at different resorts and then get a decent forecast then book places later on. Skiing is expensive in the NE and the resorts close to Boston and NYC get crazy so avoid weekends if you can and go hiking on those days, but those further away such as Killington or even Sunday River can be pretty quiet midweek at that time of year. By that stage different resorts have different offers, wildcat (NH) will have a day for say $25, Mt Abram ME, near Bethel) will be $15.. something like that.. these resorts aren't huge so you can ski most of the resort at you level in a day or two.

If you are learning I'd suggest a small resort like Mt Abram midweek, We were there this year as Sunday river was getting skied out, the chair lift had broken so we just had the t-bar but that'll be working again by the start of the season, but there was loads of greens and easy blues, and it was really quiet. Maybe just get some lessons for a few hours then ski the rest of the day, then pay more for a bigger resort.

Quiet slopes are great when you are learning, much less stressful.

Hiking just depends on the year and how bad/good the winter is.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Have had half a dozen visits to Maine/New Hampshire at Xmas time and the crags have always been covered in ice, even low level stuff like Cathedral Ledge and Acadia. The tree line in the White Mountains is about 4000ft so you can go Munro bagging in the woods! The paths are well marked and if the snow is packed down can make for easy walking...or you could be sloshing through thigh-deep gunge.
Have been up Mt Washington on a good weather day and done Damnation Gully; a very Scottish style grade III outing. Shorter hill walks like, Mt Kearsarge are good if there is a fire tower on top so you can get a view above the trees.
It's a lot colder than the UK and they are even worse at accurate weather forecasting!

In reply to Ramblin dave:
Wow, lots to mull over here, thanks!

I guess we've got a baseline that we could happily spend a week or so exploring places like Boston, Providence and New York, so I guess we'd want outdoors stuff to be cool or unique enough to make it a worthwhile option instead of that. If we were starting from the West Coast it'd be a no-brainer, since (stop me if this is unfair...) that seems to be where the really in-your-face geography happens, while stuff near the East Coast seems comparatively low key.

Skiing seems like a cool idea in that it seens expensive and faffy in Europe as well, and it's also a good way to get out into somewhere a bit less urban. With hillwalking on the other hand, I'm not sure (like, genuinely not sure...) whether the hills are sufficiently different from stuff that we could do without spending X hundred pounds on plane fares to be worth it.

Cheers! Will submit all this information to The Management and see what she thinks about it...

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Providence wouldn't be on my list.. NYC is just superb and I love Boston.. A small little city, great public transport and history, breweries.

I'd go for Portland over Providence but I love Maine..

Check airbnb for rooms, you can find good deals.

Acadia, Mt desert island is pretty unique and if the weather is good the white mountains, along the presidentials, is pretty unique. But I can just spend all my time in Maine, I just love the place, lakes, clear rivers, mountains, wildlife..

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Hi - I spent two years in Boston back in 04/05 and had wonderful time. North Conway in New Hampshire is a great place to head to, there's a tonne of great climbing/walking/biking to do there in the winter and if you're around until march as you say there are some epic slabs to climb in the vicinity. If you want winter walking then the alpine garden around the upper reaches of mt washing is great. Skiing is icy in new England, that said, if you can master it, you'll be good anywhere. Avoid the places the crowds head for (killington, Stowe, etc.) and head for either wildcat, attitash, or (heading to maine) sunday river. The one thing that will hit you is the cold. New England makes The highlands look sub tropical... I've skied in -40deg and worse out there. Full face masks and multiple layers are the only way to go. Suffice to say though, it's a great place to spend a winter. Go snow shoeing and if you've not skied before start out with cross country Skiing to get the hang of it - both are easy to find as you go further north. Don't listen to the naysayers who have a downer on americans either. When there we found them wonderfully warm and entertaining - mostly they'll be genuinely interested in you and in helping you enjoy their wonderful country. New England in winter is truly a breathtaking experience if you like e outdoors - cold, crisp and very bright!

Have a lovely time - Johnny B

PS - be sure to sample some of the many hundreds of brilliant craft IPAs... Just the ticket after a day out on the hill

In reply to alan moore:

Katahdin?

I didn't get up there, I was working diving the rivers a few years back, during the fall, but mainly went to Acadia as it was closer and lower as winter was coming and I had little gear.

We had a few days hiking around Grafton Notch State Park this summer, just fantastic.

We just got married at Sunday River ski resort.

yeah the cold is brutal when you are on the lifts especially..

In reply to Ramblin dave:
I live in Connecticut. There's definitely a ton of ice climbing, New Hampshire has loads, the best outside NH is meant to be Lake Willoughby in VT but I haven't been there. Skiing is good, pistes can't compare to out west and the alps, and lift passes are expensive but they're still really nice if the conditions are good, think lots of trails through the trees. My wife does XC and says it's really good, I bet the touring is good too. Mt Washington is a proper mountain with all the danger that involves. Also if you fly Virgin atlantic they let you take an extra 23 KG bag for free if it's sports equipment. It doesn't explicitly say climbing gear on their website but I called them and they said it was fine, it was over weight at the airport too and they didn't charge me. I had axes and crampons in there too. I was flying premium and am a frequent flier though, but all my bags were overweight (emigrating) and they were fine with it.

Where's she doing the research?