In the limbo of riding solo or waiting around, I stopped waiting on a ski partner and put "Black Mountain Ski Trail" on my calendar last week. Grateful for the opportunity to have a carpool to a day in solitude, I dropped my dad off at Wildcat and went another 20 minutes down the road to Jackson Village- aka the most quaint place on earth. After a nice drive of fantasizing about moving there instead of Boston, I arrived at the trailhead with room for a comfortable 5-6 cars.
After suiting up in shockingly fewer layers than I'd anticipated, lacking the forecasted windy overcast, I got going not knowing quite what to expect.
Because the White Mountain Guide is written for hiking, and I'd yet to purchase David Goodman's book, all I knew was that it's a CCC road with no switchbacks. As my day went on, I found that was all I needed to know.
Elevation-wise, the trail was steady for its entirety- minus the 0.2-mile section from the cabin to the summit. I will say, it was narrower than I imagined it might be especially given the spread of the surrounding trees. Still, though, it was equivalent to a narrow and un-groomed blue in my opinion.
As I ascended, I was thrilled that all but the last stream crossings were well covered. Even so, the last one did have a snowy section for an easy bridge- it was just something to look out for on the way back down. I couldn't have been happier climbing up the trail with the winter sun on me- I infamously prefer the uphill when backcountry skiing and this one met the mark!
When I arrived at the cabin, which sleeps 12 by reservation, I turned around for some surprising views of the Presidential Range. While people seemed to have been around recently, no one was in the cabin which surprised me given that would've been the best Valentine's Gift for any couple in the Valley.
For my climb to the outlook of Black Mountain, I decided to take the cutoff first as it appeared less downhill-friendly. I was pretty accurate on this one, and broke the type of snow that would've been pretty annoying had I been on a steep slope. But because the cutoff is mostly flat, it was the perfect "nordic" excursion.
When I got up to my transition point, I took in some very obstructed views of Carter and clicked in. As I started coming back down to the cabin, I had a weirdly rough time getting my boots to feel right- which made my skiing super sloppy. Regardless, I still got down far faster than I got up and even got in some powder turns on some of the rare open sections!
Just as I closed in on the bottom, my day of isolation ended with a group of 5 snowshowers and 3 ski duos getting ready. Glad other people got away from the crowds this sunny holiday weekend!
Stats:
3.53 miles
1,465 feet
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