Not only does the Cog offer an easier path to the summit, it also minimizes challenging route finding. Because it is graded to be suitable for a train, it is never excessively steep, making for quick ascents and even faster descents-especially when skiing! Even better, spring is the perfect time to make the trip, as winter’s cold and windy conditions begin to subside, and the days start to get longer. Ascending roughly 3,500 feet in three miles, the Cog is the shortest route to the top and involves the least amount of elevation gain. While in the summer the railway presents an easy path to the summit for those not wanting or not able to exert the effort in getting there under their own power, in the winter, the Cog offers the most accessible way to Mount Washington’s summit for skiers and snowboarders. Skiing the Cog Railway might be one of the activities that leaves me the most conflicted about Mount Washington’s infrastructure. As outdoor enthusiasts, we can almost universally agree on one thing: We should be minimizing our impact on the environment.īut, if we can’t agree on that, then maybe we can agree to not ruin a favorite ski run. The most obvious reason we don’t need another building up there? Just look at the remnants of structures built in the past, both on Mount Washington and on the Whites’ other mountains-the impact will last generations. No matter how you feel about the existing infrastructure throughout the Whites, it’s hard to argue that there should be more of it. Between a multitude of buildings, an auto road, and a railway, Mount Washington has seen more than its fair share of development, both good and bad. It’s not hard to find the scars of actions made decades or even centuries ago, as everything from hotels, lodges, and huts to roads and railways dots the landscape. Mount Washington has seen more human impact than most peaks. In December, the Mount Washington Railway Company (MWRC) proposed building a new hotel and restaurant along the rail line just a mile below the mountain’s summit. But, recently, plans have come to light that could significantly change that three-mile run in the not-so-distant future. Built in 1868, the Mount Washington Cog Railway has been a staple of the peak’s plentiful ski runs since skis first came to the Northeast’s highest point.
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