Katahdin In Winter - Hiking and Photographing Maine’s Greatest Mountain

Chris and Chris tackle the holy grail of winter adventure in Maine, summiting Katahdin, on the traditional homeland of the Wabanaki people. We made this 50 mile round trip trek through the heart of Maine's Baxter State Park via Chimney Pond with our friends Ryan, Saige and Katrina. Our crew encountered frigid below zero temps, high winds and even a small wedding at Chimney Pond!
Our Professional Work:
Chris Shane
/ chrismshane
chrismshane.com
Chris Bennett
/ chrisbennettphoto
chrisbennettphotography.com

[@UAPReportingCenter]

Solo attempt next weekend for me. Beautiful

[@alecharper515]

Expertly produced. Refreshingly real...

[@chrisandchris]

Thanks for the kind words, Alec

[@melodiepariseau4722]

Absolutely beautiful! Thanks for taking us away with you. You are true warriors 😌🙏🏼

[@chrisandchris]

You're too kind! Thanks for taking a look.

[@azuklmattien5168]

@@chrisandchris ml

[@scottring2743]

Great footage. Hope you guys have had many Adventures since and many more going forth.

[@RobsatvsandRec]

This is Nick Gayer. You were my soccer coach at erskine around 2010. Just came across this video after completing the mountain myself a few weeks ago! Hope all is well!

[@christianblanche1569]

Phenomenal video and music in the beginning, moments like these brake my heart and tears falling down the hill. Thank you so much for your work and dedication you invested into this video & thanks to KZbin for the recommendation. I've been thinking about a winter trip to Kathadin but one of the things that scares me, are the snowy roads and time I would have to spend coming from New Jersey. Its 11 hours of drive when it's dry but I don't want to spend 20 hours on the road dealing with nature cataclysms 🤦🤦🤦 I don't know how far you are from Maine but you are definitely luckier than me. God bless you guys , big respect and honor from Ukraine 🙏🙏🙏

[@philrobb1809]

Just did this trip last week! It was a bit dry and bare until we got closer to Chimney. We took fat bikes this time (terrible choice for the way out when it snowed, XCountry skis the past 3 times) But that moment you are going down the unbroken trail, the feeling of peace that comes of your group when you gaze at that horizon and realize all there is, is now. I will keep returning for it. Just summited it with my friend on 1/4/2023. We had a great couple days (despite the sheet of icy snow on Hamlin ridge that made me slide towards the tree line), and summited via Saddle. Awesome video!

[@chrisandchris]

Thanks Phil! We were just there again last week and the summit sign was completely buried. We were lucky enough to even ski off the summit. Should have a video on that trip at some point as well.

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Very nice video, loved following along with the journey

[@stevencarey5407]

You guys killed it with the magnificent time lapses of Katahdin. I climbed it about 40 years ago in the summer and I’ll never forget it.

[@chrisandchris]

Thanks Steven!

[@rooly0811]

This is well done.

[@chrisandchris]

Thanks!! We've got a new 30 Hrs on Katahdin coming out for next winter as well!

[@ellen6229]

Beautiful Thank you for sharing 😊🙏

[@chrisandchris]

Thanks for watching!

[@torstenguttenberger7672]

Great adventure, great footage, and a wedding, beautiful! Thank you.

[@chrisandchris]

Thank you!

[@cherylv6615]

Amazing footage...beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing...✌

[@chrisandchris]

Thank you so much, Cheryl!

[@charanpreetflora]

This is amazing and inspiring guys. Thank you for sharing it. Great video and photos 🙏🏼

[@chrisandchris]

Thanks for watching!

[@paddlefaster]

Great photography. Thanks for sharing your trip.

[@chrisandchris]

We appreciate you taking a look!

[@andrewbottger604]

Epic!!!

[@chrisandchris]

Thanks for watching, Andrew!

[@miketalon8331]

Great video and photography! We were at Chimney Pond Bunkhouse the night before you. We hiked Hamlin Ridge to Hamlin Peak. Amazing place in the winter. Thanks for sharing your adventure!

[@chrisandchris]

Thanks for keeping the place nice and clean!

[@TheMaineWoods]

Awesome

[@ChaseTheSummit]

Love this. Though, it does make me sad on how much of winter I missed out on this year. That ice at 8:48 looks rad! ⛏ 🧊

[@chrisandchris]

To be honest it was a weak winter. We had hoped to ski more than we did up there. Next year!

[@ExploreEverywhereMedia]

Great video and phots! I have always wanted to climb the Saddle from Chimney Pond in the winter.

[@chrisandchris]

You should!

[@jennarice9873]

So pretty! I’m a Mainer and I’ve never been to Katahdin, but I’ve wanted to go ever since we read the “lost in a mountain in Maine” book in elementary school. I just found your channel, but if you like Maine and hiking, I’d suggest taking a trip to Monhegan Island. It’s an Island 12 miles off the shore with (in my opinion) the best views in Maine. It has 17 miles of hiking trails despite being only 1.7 miles long. The hikes are by far not as extreme as katahdin, but it has beautiful 150 foot cliffs with crashing waves at the bottom. It has a huge art and photography scene, so I’d definitely recommend giving it a google and checking it out!

[@chrisandchris]

I've been many times (Chris Bennett) but it looks like I'll have to drag the other Chris out for an adventure!

[@mainiacwelda2064]

I'm from there.done that a few times

[@kirra6926]

❤️

[@rileyfillmore8170]

Looking at doing this hike this winter, and trying to find information, how did you get from Abol Bridge to Roaring brook road?

[@chrisandchris]

HI Riley, thanks for watching! The only way to get there is to walk or ski.

[@aladeenyos6921]

do snowmobiles run this trail? cuz I could notice there tracks could just be someone hopping off the trail for a quick minute though couple more questions now that I watched it all are you able to like just camp out on the lake or in the woods for free up there or is that not allowed and second are the cabins airbnb or rented on the statepark website?

[@chrisandchris]

Just Rangers from the park, guests are not allowed to use snowmobiles to get to chimney pond

[@GetUpTheMountains]

Are the 5 of you friends and coincidentally all like to adventure like this, or are you people that met through adventuring and became friends?

[@chrisandchris]

Some of us have been friends for a while, but we’ve all known of each other (through social media) and casually chatted before going out on this trip together!

[@colwem]

Did you say you had a ranger with you? And you wished everyone could see this? Does that mean you needed special permission? How would I get permission? Any details about this? Or am I misunderstanding.

[@chrisandchris]

To access Baxter State Park in winter you must have a winter permit. Anyone can apply/receive a permit for the days they wish to enter the park, but space is limited in the bunkhouse and the park will vet you/your group's winter skill level, experience, and preparedness. You can learn more about winter access to BSP on their website at baxterstatepark.org.

[@colwem]

@@chrisandchris thank you!

[@jaysontatum6347]

Jib

[@roger_rogers]

SKIING UP AND WALKING DOWN!?

[@chrisandchris]

We didn't love the snow stability in the saddle when descending so chose to descend the far corner slowly until on more mellow slope. The top of this gully produces avalanches often. We also don't appreciate the tone of judgement in this comment regarding our decisions made in the backcountry, where safety of the party is always the first priority. In the backcountry we don't tolerate language that constitutes as peer pressure and instead opt for objective conversation and reason around the situation and how the party is feeling. This comment ain't it.