Do I need microspikes?
In the White Mountains, from what hikers reported this week and in every month since 2024. By Nick Dube, NH 48 finisher.
This week
Not right now. None of the 19 trip reports from the last two weeks recommended microspikes, though 1 mentioned snow or ice up high. That changes fast: in past years hikers recommended them in 2% of October reports and 61% of November reports.
Read this week's trail reports or today's conditions for every peak
Month by month
| Month | Snow or ice | Microspikes | Snowshoes | Reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 100% | 59% | 77% | 202 |
| February | 100% | 46% | 99% | 389 |
| March | 100% | 77% | 92% | 321 |
| April | 87% | 76% | 36% | 290 |
| May | 42% | 23% | 0% | 317 |
| June | 2% | 0% | 0% | 219 |
| July | 0% | 0% | 0% | 198 |
| August | 0% | 0% | 0% | 155 |
| September | 1% | 0% | 0% | 135 |
| October | 15% | 2% | 0% | 96 |
| November | 90% | 61% | 5% | 215 |
| December | 100% | 63% | 80% | 208 |
From 2,745 trip reports hikers posted to New England Trail Conditions since February 2024. Snow or ice counts every report; the gear columns count the reports that listed gear, and show a dash when a month has too few.
Which microspikes
Microspikes are short steel spikes on chains, held on by a stretchy harness that pulls over any hiking boot. They are the traction hikers mean on packed snow and ice below treeline, and they weigh little enough to stay in the pack from late October to May. Size them to your boot, and size up if your winter boots are bulky.
When microspikes aren't enough
Fresh or deep snow: snowshoes
Spikes sink in unbroken snow, and postholing ruins the trail for everyone after you. After a storm, and through most of midwinter, hikers recommend snowshoes with heel lifts for the long climbs.
Hiking snowshoes at Backcountry.comSteep, hard ice above treeline: crampons
Microspikes don't bite on steep, wind-scoured ice. For the Presidentials and other exposed ridges in winter and spring, hikers recommend real crampons, and an ice axe if you know how to use one.
Crampons at Backcountry.comPaid links. Backcountry.com pays me if you buy. Prices are Backcountry's, checked twice a day. How I pick gear
Questions
Do I need microspikes in the White Mountains right now?
Not right now. None of the 19 trip reports from the last two weeks recommended microspikes, though 1 mentioned snow or ice up high. That changes fast: in past years hikers recommended them in 2% of October reports and 61% of November reports.
When do you start needing microspikes in the White Mountains?
Hikers' trip reports start recommending them in late October. By November 61% of reports that listed gear did, and they stay common into spring (76% of April reports), when old snow turns to ice on the upper trails.
Are microspikes enough for winter hiking in the Whites?
On packed, icy trails, usually. After fresh snow hikers recommend snowshoes (99% of February reports), and on steep, hard ice above treeline they recommend crampons (22% of March reports).
The rest of the kit: winter hiking gear and fall hiking gear for the Whites, and what to wear on Mount Washington.