Gulf of Slides Ski Trail 5 miles round trip / 2,083 ft elevation gain 

After dealing with a low amount of snow so far this season, Mount Washington and the surrounding area received nearly three feet of snow over the course of the previous seven days. This snow opened up the opportunity to ski backcountry terrain in the White Mountains.

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Our original plan was to skin up the Tuckerman Ravine trail and ski down the John Sherburne ski trail. After some consideration, we decided to go up the less popular Gulf of Slides trail. The Gulf of Slides ski trail is located on the east side of the presidential range. The trail begins at the Pinkham Notch Visitor's center, only a quick 20 minute drive from downtown North Conway. The trail leads to the Gulf of Slides, a collection of avalanche paths descending from Boott Spurr. This terrain experiences avalanches during nearly every storm cycle. During the day of our trip, the MWAC reported considerable avalanche danger. For this reason, along with other observations we decided to stick to lower angle terrain. 

Trailhead: AMC Pinkham Notch Visitors Center

We began our 2.5 mile ascent on a mellow approach. Snow was fairly deep at the base but there were still several small streams that required crossing. The trail began to gain elevation through a series of winding turns, slowly getting wider the higher we traveled. We ran into several skiers who were surprised by the lack of traffic on the trail following the previous storm. They reported that they observed a slide in gulley #1 that must have occurred following the most recent snow event. 

We continued up the trail following a snack break (shout out to Stroupwafels) and soon reached an avalanche rescue cache near the first gulley. We also got a great view of Wildcat ski area and the surrounding peaks as we got closer to tree line. We followed the trail until reaching the base of Main Gulley and began our transition to downhill. The skiing was fantastic. We had soft surfy turns throughout the way down. There were a few abrupt dips in the trail where drainage occurred but was easily navigated.   

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