Doesn't really sound like a good idea. Snow shoes would definitely come in handy, given that you know.. it just snowed a bunch. Winter hiking has a lot of stuff to learn, like how to keep warm but not sweat, make sure your water doesn't freeze, keep your cell phone from dying etc. Lastly, going up treeline in winter can be... very interesting. Even if there's no storm, blowing snow and cloud cover can make it like walking into pea soup.

For a newer person I'd recommend Tecumseh, Waumbek or Cannon instead.