Harvard Mountaineering Cabin Needs Your Help

The Harvard Mountaineering Club Cabin, at the base of Huntington Ravine on Mt Washington, needs some help paying the bills this winter so that its caretaker can help keep climbers in the Ravine safe. If you've ever enjoyed the cabin or climbed in Huntington Ravine please consider making a donation at the link below.

Many of our Ice Program graduates and leaders are familiar with the HMC cabin. This public-use cabin is normally open for the winter season (Dec. 1 - Apr. 1). The cabin serves a sizable community of ice climbers, backcountry skiers, mountaineers, and other outdoor recreationists. It provides a warm and welcome base camp and emergency refuge, with a propane cooking stove, a wood heating stove that is lit for the evenings, water brought in from a nearby stream, sleeping space for 16 inside, and tent spaces outside. The cabin and Huntington Ravine have a long history as a training venue for climbers looking to hone their alpine climbing skills.

The cabin caretaker, aside from making sure things run smoothly in the cabin itself, plays an essential role in the safety of the people who recreate on Mt. Washington: posting the local weather and avalanche forecast every morning, providing information on backcountry conditions, reporting an avalanche or other emergency promptly, and being a vital part of search and rescue efforts.

The cabin itself will not be open to guests this winter due to the COVID-19 pandemic however the Forest Service (which grants a special use permit for the cabin) asked the cabin to provide a caretaker nonetheless, because of their importance in search and rescue efforts. Normally the revenue generated by visitors to the cabin is what funds the caretaker's position, and while the tent sites around the cabin will still be open the public, this year the cabin is going to need help paying the caretaker.

The committee that oversees the cabin successfully applied for a $3,000 grant from New Hampshire Outdoor Council to help cover part of the caretaker's pay but still requires an additional $4,500 to cover the remainder. There are also a few outstanding cabin projects that require funding (first and foremost, replacing the privy) and any excess funds will be put towards maintenance so we can all continue to enjoy the cabin for a long time to come.

*Note: This is the "Harvard High Cabin" on Mt Washington run by Harvard Mountaineering Club, not the "Harvard Low Cabin" in Pinkham Notch that is owned by the Harvard Outing Club and administered by the AMC.