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October 14, 2021
Hi Folks,
Yes, I'm getting this one out early today... This time 'cause I have a big (for me) concert this evening at the newly renovated Majestic Theater in Conway Village and there is lots to do beforehand. It's kind of like packing up all your gear before heading out on that big alpine climb. Once you're there, you can't go back for whatever you have forgotten. [wry grin]
So it's been a particularly nice week, weather wise. Moderate temps and sunny days that are good for almost anything outdoors. Including stacking the last of the fire wood, picking up the kindling, covering the stacks, painting the garage doors, sanding the tops of the deck railings so I can repaint them and in general taking care of all the tasks that need to be done before winter comes in. Tho it feels like Indian Summer, technically there has to be a hard frost before the warmup and we haven't had one yet. I'm not complaining mind you, since I'm still getting lettuce, basil and green beans from the garden. But I know that's going to happen soon. And I know all you ice aficionados are all a-twitter for that early season Tucks ice. Just wait, it will come... In the meantime enjoy Rocktober! [LOL]
I had a very nice morning climbing with Bob Clark last Friday. It was a gorgeous day and the temperature was warmer than expected. We did the 2 new routes right of Beginners that I've done several times this summer. I led the first pitch of the one on the right, and he did the other 3 pitches. They were all in great shape and it was a blast. There were people up on the upper section of Standard, Cormier-Magness and as we were on p2 of the left climb, some military guys rapped down from something up high on our right. I'm not sure what they had done. All in all it was a great time.
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20211014/BobC_1.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20211014/BobC_2.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20211014/BobC_3.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20211014/CormierMagness.jpg
I was watching Jeopardy last night and was surprised when this clue popped up. What a hoot, since the original quarry is in Redstone where I ride my MTB a lot.
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20211014/Jeopardy.jpg
Had a nice coffee & chat with climber & guidebook author Todd Swain last week when he was in town. He's doing deep research on a new history of ice climbing in New England. He's talked to many of the elder statesmen that I don't think have ever talked to anyone and has unearthed some great info. I'll be excited to read this one when it comes out. Stay tuned...
Inexplicably the NH Executive Council voted not to accept $27 million in federal funding that would have created 13 state health department positions for immunization work. The positions included vaccine outreach, assistance for health care providers navigating the logistics of vaccines and support for data entry on the state’s immunization information system. Health officials had described the contracts, and the money tied to them, as key to boosting the state's vaccination efforts. Councilor Cinde Warmington, a Democrat, was the only councilor to vote in favor of the funding. All four Republicans on the council voted against the money.
In a statement issued after the vote, Sununu said the "vote showed a reckless disregard for the lives we are losing while they turn away the tools our state needs to fight and win this battle against COVID.” Speaking to reporters later in the day, Sununu said he pushed fellow-Republican councilors to support the contracts as hard as he could, but described the party-line vote against the money as driven by disinformation. "At the end of the day, there was no rational, logical reason to say 'no' to these contracts," Sununu said. "Every argument that the council attempted to bring up was shot down immediately.”
While all this was going on, cases continued to rise in NH. Coos County has become a hot spot, with Berlin and Gorham cases rising enough to trigger the Gorham Town Manager to issue a Code Red message, and a similar message going out in Berlin. New Hampshire is the least vaccinated state in New England, and northern NH the least overall! The hospitals in the area are overburdened with COVID patients and having to transport some patients to other facilities. With winter looming, this is not a good scenario.
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20211014/CodeRed.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20211014/Berlin.jpg
The US death toll has gone up another 10,000 over the past week, reaching over 719 thousand!
New Hampshire:
2 new deaths reported
510 new cases reported
4,218 Active cases
140 patients are currently hospitalized
1,5011 total deaths
United States:
Confirmed: 44,685,145
Deaths: 719,551
Global:
Confirmed: 239,297,575
Deaths: 4,876,802
The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 tracking map:
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/us-map
I find JHU's Daily COVID-19 Data in Motion report to be very informative. It shares critical data on COVID-19 from the last 24 hours in a short 1 minute animated video format.
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/covid-19-daily-video
OUR ONLY WAY OUT IS IF YOU GET VACCINATED, WHERE RECOMMENDED PLEASE STILL WEAR A MASK, WASH YOUR HANDS!
REMEMBER - WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
The Cranmore bike park has closed down for the season. I got over there earlier in the week and the trails were in good shape. For me it was worth the $ as something different to do.
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20211014/bike_1.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20211014/bike_2.jpg
The normal MTB trails are in good shape as well. However, I hear that Charlie Don't Surf in the Hurricane Zone has gotten pretty beat up. Still, overall the riding up here is pretty great right now.
Up on one of the Mount Washington Valley's finest crags and want to know what that climb you're looking at is? Or maybe you're on your way up from Boston and want to check out the Ice Report for your upcoming weekend plans. Or more likely, you're at work just want to daydream about your next adventure. Well if you have a smart phone handy, you can get to NEClimbs from anywhere you have cell service. While it doesn't offer every single feature of the site and it's not an "app", in mobile form, it does do a whole lot and is very useful. Here is the live link to the mobile version of NEClimbs:
http://www.neclimbs.com/mobile
Check it out and if you have issues on your specific phone, please feel free to let me know.
Join us and LIKE us on Facebook. I'll try and post interesting pix every Thursday and the latest Ice Report in the season, tho certainly not the whole Report. Here's where you can check it out:
http://www.facebook.com/NEClimbs/
Remember - climb hard, ride the steep stuff, stay safe and above all BE NICE,
Al Hospers
The White Mountain Report
North Conway, New Hampshire
| Anytime the gear makes climbing too easy and success too certain, the best climbers will voluntarily limit their use of it. |
| Jeff Lowe |
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