Giant is certainly doable as a winter day hike… depending on individual hiking speed, fitness levels, and conditions. You should, of course, plan for an emergency or longer than expected outing and pack accordingly. And an early start will obviously help as well.

Technical gear… as in ropes and axes, etc… would not be needed if you are sticking to the marked trails. However, traction devices will almost certainly be required. Microspikes or crampons to traverse the ice that is guaranteed to be on the trails… and possibly snowshoes, if we ever get snow! And of course, proper winter clothing.

Conditions can change pretty rapidly around here. So your best bet in terms of being prepared for the conditions would be to call either The Mountaineer (an outfitter in Keene Valley, not too far from the Giant trailheads) or the Adirondack Mountain Club a day before your scheduled hike. They should be able to give you current conditions and recommendations on the gear needed in those conditions.

Hope this helps some. Feel free to post more questions here if you have them (we are back from vaca now so shouldn’t take as long to respond!), and do come back and tell us how it went. Have fun and be safe!

1. Is do you thin k this a a good long day hike in the winter or is to much walking for the short days of February?

2. In the winter will technical gear be required?

Happy Trails,

Sincerely, Michael

Thank you for the excellent web page for Giant Mountain.

Been considering a Giant Mountain hike for a couple of years now. You convinced me.

We (wife and I) finally got around to climbing Mt. Ascutney in Vermont this fall…. we had been talking about it for for the last 25 years. It was definitely worth the wait.

Good hiking.

Glad you liked the trip report, it was certainly a fun one. Re-reading it makes me want to get back up there soon!

We plan on heading up to Rocky Peak Ridge this fall… so we’ll be up near Giant’s summit again soon. We’ve also heard wonderful things about climbing the slides of Giant. Eagle Slide in particular looks like a lot of fun!

Thanks for the description and information. I find it encouraging and the pictures look rewarding.

I have tried to ascend this mountain from Hwy. 73 on 3 different occasions as a little side trip. I was very surprised each time to find that I did not reach the summit although each time I got closer to the summit. I thought about how unrealistic I was and have decided to actually give myself the luxery of a full day this fall so that I can make it to the top.

I am 61 years old and decided that it is really important to me to do this hike before I get too old. So this fall, 2010, Giant Mtn., Here I come.