Airplane Gully

Airplane Gully is a classic backcountry ski line dropping into the Great Gulf on the northeast side of Mount Washington. The line faces roughly northeast and sits in the upper alpine zone above treeline, with a confined gully character and a pronounced runout in the Great Gulf Wilderness.

From the summit ridge, parties typically access the top of Airplane Gully via the Gulfside area, often after skinning or booting up alongside the Cog Railway from the west or approaching from the east via Great Gulf trails, then traversing to the gully entrance. Once you leave the ridge, you are fully committed to steep, consequential terrain with limited safe islands and a relatively short but serious runout.

The gully has supported hard-slab avalanches with skier triggers on northeast aspects at upper elevations, with reported slab failures around 40° and debris running several hundred vertical metres. Even small avalanches here have produced life-threatening trauma due to rock- and ice-littered bed surfaces and the confined gully shape, so standard avalanche kit, rescue gear, and solid ski-mountaineering skills are baseline, not optional.

Snowpack is highly variable in the Presidential Range; stability tests at the top of the line have not always matched conditions a short distance downslope. Early season brings especially thin coverage and more exposed rock in the runout. Treat any wind-loaded pocket with suspicion, manage exposure one at a time, and use conservative terrain choices when slabs are present on east to northeast aspects.

Always check the daily forecast and recent observations from the Mount Washington Avalanche Center before committing to Airplane Gully, and be prepared to bail to lower-consequence terrain if conditions do not line up. More information: Mount Washington Avalanche Center.