When the weather obliges, people bring picnic lunches and spend afternoons skiing or sledding down the 800-foot walls of the ravine. The upper slopes offer some of the most macho skiing in the Northeast and are recommended for experts and intermediates. The lower slopes are better for intermediates. Only experts should try the run from the top of the headwall into the bowl of the ravine. Bad weather brings out the intrepid.
Climbers practice mountaineering skills on the slopes even in snow and fog.
Some equipped with crampons and ice axes head for the summit of Mount Washington. Some camp out at Hermit Lake, where wooden shelters with no heat or amenities keep out the wind and snow. Chris Joosen, the year-round caretaker at AMC's Hermit Lake Shelter, says good weekend weather can bring out thousands of people. The station, just below the ravine, offers weather and trail information, trail snacks, gloves, and other sundries for trekkers. On a clear spring day, the glacial bowl looks like a desolate valley of the moon.