Cog Railway

Over the last few days, consistent upslope snow showers and unusually light to moderate winds for Mt. Washington have helped preserve a widespread supply of soft, transportable snow on the west side.

We toured from the base of the Cog Railway up the track to approximately 5,200’. Along the approach, I found soft snow sitting on the old snow surface in variable but generally increasing depths with elevation. At lower elevations near the base of the Cog, soft snow was roughly ~1 foot deep, deepening as we climbed. The new snow was remarkably even and consistent, showing little evidence of wind drifting. There was also substantial snow loading on trees, with the surface snow appearing to be well-formed stellar dendrites. 

We removed skins on a west facing shoulder at around 5,200’  and continued to note comparable soft snow depths in open areas, commonly 1–2 feet of soft snow. In one drift, I found a layer of fist-hard, stellar/stellar-dendritic snow approximately 80 cm thick. This depth and character did not seem isolated at that elevation. 

Looking north and south from the Cog corridor, the same low-density snow appears widespread across other west-side terrain, thinning higher up on the summit cone above 5500’. Overall, coverage has improved noticeably, with rocks, bushes, and boulders more filled in near the top of Ammonoosuc Ravine, the lower summit cone, and similarly in/around Burt Ravine. Overall, this recent snowpack addition still appears largely not strongly wind-affected.

There remains a significant amount of soft, easily transportable snow on the west side. In the short term, if winds increase, especially strong W–NW wind, there is potential for this snow to transport onto east facing terrain, building new wind slabs in the eastern ravines. It currently feels like a race between settlement/sintering (making the snow harder to move) and a wind event that could move it while it’s still light.

Additional info (Cog staff report): Cog Railway staff reported that Feb 10 featured steady snowfall through the day. When they woke on Feb 11, they observed approximately 14 inches at the base and about 20 inches on the deck at Waumbek Station at 4000’.