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Welcome to the Mt. Washington Auto Road Blog
A look into what it takes to open the Mt. Washington Auto Road for the season.
Welcome to the Mt. Washington Auto Road Blog.
Just what does it take to open an 8-mile road up the side of a mountain? But not just any mountain. This is Mt. Washington—the home of the "world's worst weather."
Every season, crews battle snow, ice, wash outs and other obstacles as they push for the summit. It's man against the elements, and every season is a new challenge.
In 2006, the Road saw one of its earliest openings ever—April 29. On that day, the public was able to drive their cars or take a guided tour to the halfway point on the Road. However, due to a cold and wet May, it took nearly another full month the opne the entire Road to the summit.
Going into this spring, snowfall was reported as low, but the Mountain still has plenty of challenges for the crews. Snows in early April has forced crews to replow the Road on more than one occassion. And not just dust away an inch or two. This first week of April saw more than a foot of new snow fall on Mt. Washington. Back to the bottom to start all over again.
Stay tuned here to the Road Blog for all the updates and watch as the culverts are cleared and the Road is repaired all pointing to an opening day in early May.
Comments
Current updates on the road conditions, accessibility of the peak?
by Sindey Rosenblum, Danbury, CT
on Apr 13th 2007, 1:59 am
Is this THE place to look up as far as the latest updates on the road conditions? If the peak is accessible, etc? Thanks
Re: Welcome to the Mt. Washington Auto Road Blog
by Ryan
on Apr 13th 2007, 9:13 am
This is THE place!
The Road is not yet cleared to the summit. After yesterday's snow, we have more plowing to take care of once again. We should be able to have the Road free of snow to halfway...hopefully today. But it's not just a matter of being clear of snow, we also need to clear the more than one hundred culverts of snow and ice and repair any wash outs that have occurred. In other words, there is still a lot of work to be done. We're hoping to have the Road open to at least halfway in about two weeks, but it all depends on the weather.
The record holder for the 24 Hours of Great Glen, Ward Solar, now has his picture on a cereal box and an 18-wheeler as marketing for his pro cycling team.
