Some questions -

[btb31]

I'd love to know when was the latest in the year that snow has lasted on Mount Washington. Are there now, or have there ever been (in recent history) glaciers on or near Mount Washington?

I'd also like to know more about the wildlife on the rockpile. I think I saw a pic of a moose somewhere on the mountain. Are there moose found in the area? What about Elk, coyotes, and other animals? Any other interesting critters up there (wolverines, badgers, or other northern climate animals)? How about ligers? Ok just kidding about that one.

What's the deepest the snow has ever piled up in a storm? How about the different snow banks that form in the crevaces and valleys?

[Mike D]

How about ligers? Ok just kidding about that one.

afrmintern once caught me a delicious bass at Lake of the Clouds.

Moose appear only when lost. It is said they don't come to the summit unless they have brainworm.

The most notable animals that have been there in the past year are bears, foxes, ravens, and flying squirrels--oh, and observers.

There are no glaciers now, but the ravines were carved by glaciers many years ago. These ravines can hold snow into june or july. Other than the "beach" on Jefferson, snow melts/blows off the summits by late spring.

[btb31]

Thank you for the info. What about snow depth? I'd imagine it gets deepest in the ravines and other areas lower than the summit. What's the deepest its ever been on the mountain? Any idea? flippin sweet.

[Brad]

Thank you for the info. What about snow depth? I'd imagine it gets deepest in the ravines and other areas lower than the summit. What's the deepest its ever been on the mountain? Any idea? flippin sweet.

Here is a picture from July 11, 2005 taken of the base of the headwall in Tuckerman's Ravine.

[nevis_highwire]

Yes, the deepest snow is usually found in the ravines. It is so windy on the summit the snow never piles too deeply there. In the ravines I guess it gets to be 10's of feet deep. 30-50 feet seems probable.

Yes, there were glaciers on Mount Washington. The last of them melted away several thousand years ago. It is thought that is Mount Washington was 1,000ft taller it would have snow year round and therefore...glaciers.

I was in Tuckerman's in mid-August 1996 and saw snow almost as deep as the photo Brad posted.

Wildlife. Moose by accident. Jim Salge posted a photo of a mother bear and cubs passing near the summit this spring. The summit fox is well known.

[Brad]

It would be interesting to find a summer and winter picture of Tuckerman's to make a comparison. In the summer there are trees above HoJo's. In the winter many of the trees are covered with snow.

[Brad]

Thank you for the info. What about snow depth? I'd imagine it gets deepest in the ravines and other areas lower than the summit. What's the deepest its ever been on the mountain? Any idea? flippin sweet.

Take a look at this picture taken February 19, 2005. See how much snow is piled up at the base of the headwall and winter still had a lot of snow storms to come rolling on through.

[nevis_highwire]

Ah, February 19th, a good day...my birthday.

Yes, there still is some way to go. Many of those rocks on the headwall will get buried, and most of the lunch rocks also dissapear at the height of winter.

It would be cool to see a time series of how Tuckerman's fills in over the course of the winter. Hiking up the trail in summer it's hard to believe you skied over these cliffs just a few months ago.

Has anybody tried to sketch in the summer trail over the snow covered bowl?

[Brad]

Bill,

Doing a rough trace of the summer trail up the Headwall would not be too hard using the February picture I posted above.

Since last April I have been collecting the Ravines Camera 9:00 AM image and saving them. Jim Salge and I are planning on putting a full year into a video clip so folks can see the changing of the seasons - and a lot of fog and clouds. If you want a preview of the images so far, go to http://public.fotki.com/MWO/saved/ravine-save/
These are in reverse time order (newest images first) so the Slideshow function will not run right. Every once in a while I go back through to make sure I do not have multiples for an individual day. I think I now have the daily routine down pat. Some days the process did not work and we are missing those days. Other days the Ravine camera itself was not updating on the MWO site. But, it is a pretty complete set so far. I have taken the liberty on some days of taking a later image as it was a lot clearer then.

This video clip will give us a view of when the ravines close in with snow and how it changes through the winter.