Queer Intro to Backcountry Touring on Mt. Washington, NH

We meet at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, 361 New Hampshire Route 16, Gorham, New Hampshire 03581. Check-in is 9:45 in the morning. Most groups are back between 1:00 and 3:00 in the afternoon, depending on pace and conditions.

We climb the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, about 2.4 miles with roughly 2,000 feet of gain, as far as the Hermit Lake shelters, and we descend the John Sherburne Ski Trail. This route deliberately stays out of avalanche terrain.

Our fee for this program is $100 rather than $150, on both dates. If that is what would stop you joining us, apply for a backcountry scholarship, which covers the fee in full. There are ten each season, one pool shared across all four Intro to Backcountry days, and the application is short. Rental gear is priced by the shop and is separate from our fee, at the discounted rate we negotiated for our participants. On the Kindling Collective date we also hold two half-price spots specifically for BIPOC participants. Email us for the code.

A comparable guided backcountry day runs $235 to $300, with a median of $255. Donors, sponsors and volunteers cover the difference so that the price on this page is what you actually pay.

We also hold ten scholarships each season, which cover the whole fee. The ten are one pool shared across all four Intro to Backcountry days, Intro, Women's, Queer and BIPOC, and if you are awarded one you choose which of those days suits you best. Apply for a scholarship. Applying takes about ten minutes and you do not need to document anything.

They are the same program. Same $100 fee, same route up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, same guides, same requirement that you can descend black diamond terrain. What differs is the partner, and one offer.

Exact dates go up in the fall with the rest of the season, and the booking calendar below lists both once registration opens.

You need to be comfortable and confident descending black diamond terrain on skis or a splitboard. This is the one hard requirement on these programs and we are strict about it, because the John Sherburne Ski Trail is a real descent in variable snow and we are not downhill instructors. If you are not there yet, an on-resort day for $20 is the right first step, and most people who come to a backcountry day have done one.

These are not avalanche courses and they do not enter avalanche terrain, so you are not required to own or carry a beacon, shovel and probe. That is deliberate: it lets you find out whether you love this before you spend a thousand dollars. If you want the education itself, that is avalanche education and AIARE, and we run an AIARE Level 1 course at a reduced rate.

You do not need to own touring gear. Mountain Sports Lab in North Conway rents a full touring setup for about $50 a day, and White Mountain Ski Co. rents backcountry equipment including splitboards for about the same. Reserve ahead, because both shops run out on good weekends. Tell us you need to rent when you register and we will point you at the right shop.

Weather-appropriate layers, a helmet, a 20 to 30 liter pack with a waist strap, water and food for the day. Mt. Washington makes its own weather and it is colder and windier than the valley, so bring more insulation than you think you need. The packing guide and the layering guide are written for exactly this day.

Mt. Washington weather decides this, not us. Weather calls go out the evening before. If we cancel, for weather or any other reason, you are refunded in full.

If you need to cancel: with 48 hours notice or more, we will move you to another date or give you the fee back as IST credit, whichever you prefer. Inside 48 hours we cannot offer a refund, a credit or a reschedule, because the guide is booked and the spot can no longer be filled. Tell us as early as you can either way, so we can offer the place to somebody on the list.

The Northeast Mountaineering Bunkhouse is fourteen minutes from Pinkham Notch and gives Inclusive Ski Touring participants 33% off with the code ISTBUNK. See Lodging and Accommodations for the rest of our lodging partners.