Mount Washington is located in the Presidential Range of New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Standing at 6,290 ft Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeast and is the most topographically prominent mountain in the Eastern U. S. But what really makes the mountain unique is the weather. Sitting at a convergence point of three major storm tracks, the mountain is often described as having the worst weather in the world.

And I believe it. A couple days before the race I drove up to the observatory at the summit to get a feel for the course. It was a pleasant day at the base. But at tree line the wind began to howl and the skies became thick with cloud cover. At the summit winds hit 75 MPH. Which technically are hurricane force. I haven’t had such a difficult time walking in a straight line since my college days.

The full course is on the Mount Washington motor road - with 4,650 feet of vertical gain over 7.6 miles at an average grade of about 12 %. Unfortunately, the day before the event it was announced that the 2025 race to the summit was off. Instead, we would be only be allowed to complete half of the course.

The reason offered was a prediction that rime ice might form on the roadway. Which ultimately never happened. Personally, I believe there were other issues that decided the fate of race. But since race management has already made a couple of important changes for future years, I will just leave it at that.

As far as the race itself, the climb is so relentless and demanding that a part of me was relieved the suffering was ending early. However, I was well ahead of my target pace at the half way mark/finish line and would have had a large margin to achieve the summit ahead of the cutoff.

Ultimately, this project did not work out as envisioned. Which is a disappointment. Even though the end result was out of my control. But life goes on and new adventures and challenges await.