Adirondacks winter hikeing

Hi, I want to do a winter summit of a semi-challenging mountain in the adirondacks. My freind who I am going with is very experinced he is a member of the 46er club and some other things. However neither of us have done any major winter hiking on anything sizable, basiclly what do we need and which mountain would be the best for us we want something challenging not some wienie hill and would prefer to have at least one night of camping.

I think Algonquin would be a great option for a first winter summit. Algonquin has a terrific summit, and is only a few miles from Marcy Dam. As far as gear, regular cold weather gear plus snow shoes and perhaps crampons for the summit and open rock sections which will most likely be solid ice. Marcy Dam, or even further up the Algonquin trail would be a great location for the night.

thanks alot man.

Please respect the ski trails. Walking (postholing) in x-c ski tracks and on the trails designated for skiing can really screw them up for skiers. There are separate skiers' and hikers' winter trails on Marcy, and if I recall correctly there is a ski trail on Algonquin as well.

BigRed said:

Please respect the ski trails. Walking (postholing) in x-c ski tracks and on the trails designated for skiing can really screw them up for skiers. There are separate skiers' and hikers' winter trails on Marcy, and if I recall correctly there is a ski trail on Algonquin as well.

Thanks for pointing this out.Here in the nw,Oregon, many snow shoe folks think they are helping the skiers by packing the route.They are not.There is guide lines in place so that all people of all types of travel can enjoy the winter in our forests but it is up to us as individuals to research and apply the guide lines.

Is this something I need a guide for or is it just hiking with snowshoes?

The ADK (Adirondack Mountain Club) has a 1 week long outdoor mountaineering class that you might want to look into taking if winter backpacking is new to you. Check it out on their web site.

I would agree that a little training, etc... would be useful if you are new to winter hiking, but a guide is definitely not necessary. I have a cousin who did this as a day hike in the middle of winter, although he is an adventure racer and regularly runs up Mt. Marcy. There are many many great hikes in the Adirondack Loj area, one of my favorites, albeit a little longer, is to go over to Avalanche Lake, up Mt. Colden and back as a loop. I would also have to say that some other favorites are Big Slide and Giant.

I've accessed Algonquian from via avalanche pass, and camped at lake colden. The terrain is very difficult in poor weather. I've never done it in winter (only summer), so I don't know what its like, but it will certainly be a challenge. If you go in this way you will hike up the mountain on the southeastern side, which is the more challenging. I would also recommend camping at Marcy if your planning on going this route. Its a brisk easy two miles in, you can drop your gear and setup camp, and then continue on to the mountain much lighter. After Marcy things will get substantially harder, but it will be worth the effort.