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Around 7 AM I was heading up 302 in Crawford Notch. There was some light snow covering the road and I was happy to have those big Nokia tires on my old Ranger. They hadn't plowed or sanded the road yet and every once in a while I could feel the rear of the truck get just a little squirrely. I was staying about 8 car lengths behind an older maroon Dodge van and as we drove past Notchland a plow truck came down the other side of the road sanding. As we headed up the long straightaway to Arethusa Falls I felt the back end of the truck give just a touch and at the same instant watched as the rear end of the van ahead twitch first right and then back left. I watched as he did 4 - 360's straight up the hill, staying neatly in our lane and coming to a full stop in the middle of the road pointed almost directly into the Arethusa driveway!
WHEW! There were absolutely no cars visible in any direction so I pulled up alongside and rolled down my window, looking into the van. A middle-aged man stared back at me with eyes as big as saucers and a little dog on the passenger seat barking like crazy. I asked if he was OK and he just nodded, put the car in gear and headed into the Arethusa lower lot. I shook my head and continued up the road, albeit just a little slower than before.
It had been snowing when I got up at 6 AM this morning. A light fluffy snowfall that obviously hadn't been falling very long, but enough to make things look a bit prettier than the splotchy patches we had seen when we got home from Philadelphia on Tuesday. Since there is no lower elevation ice climbing right now, I had made plans to meet a buddy in Crawford Notch for a hike at 7:30. After weeks of little or no snow anywhere it was wonderful to run up and back on a snow covered trail, feeling as if I was finally in the winter. Since I usually just use the WIllard trail as a descent from ice or rock climbing it was nice to actually hike up it. We were the first ones up there this morning, but as we came down we saw a couple of parties. Great fun...
Ice Conditions Report:
Selected Ice Conditions effective February 19, 2026
Just as you would expect following Ice Fest AND a week of truly balmy temps, going to be upper 30's today, the ice can be a mixed bag. I saw someone post about how things are terrible. But digging into it, I realized they were talking about places like the North End that are very well used. It probably gets the most use of all. There are only a few places that have really easy access to moderate climbing and where you can set up a bunch of top-ropes. So that's not unexpected. And of course the climbs that are getting a lot of full sun are getting somewhat punked-out. On my way back from Wolfeboro mid-afternoon a few days ago I took a look at Rainbow Slabs which look as if they are getting pretty funky. And I watched a hunk of the bottom of Way In The Wilderness fall down! IMO it's really the time to start paying attention to what you're walking underneath, any time of the day. Enjoy this weather, but keep paying attention...
Huntington Ravine
numerous options
Repentance
iffy
Standard Route
GREAT conditions
Dracula
IN & very fat
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
Fowler and Boskoff Missing in China:
Well known Colorado-based climbers Charlie Fowler and Christine Boskoff are missing and presumed to be on or below a remote 6,000m+ mountain near the towns of Litang and Batang in Sichuan Province, China. On Dec 12 a group was formed in Telluride as an independent but linked search effort in tandem with Mountain Madness in Seattle WA. The group (the FBSC) proposed to Mountainfilm In Telluride that it could establish an account under its non-profit umbrella to accept tax deductible donations from anywhere in the world for the search effort. A blog, the Fowler-Boskoff Search Engine (http://fowlerboskoff.blogspot.com), was established as an appeal for information from anyone that has recently spent time in the region as well as for funds to maintain the search effort.
On December 27, 2006, a body, mostly buried in the snow, was spotted at 1:30pm (China time) by a Chinese member of one of the Field Search Teams. The location is at an approximate altitude of 5300m (17,388 feet), 3 hours above Lenggu Monastery in the Genyen Region. The body is currently unidentified and is not confirmed to be either Fowler or Boskoff. Details of the sighting include modern climbing equipment, blue gaitors, and grey boots. The U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, China has notified both of the families. It also reported that cooperation by the Chinese authorities has helped immensely to maintain an accelerated effort by all parties involved. The plan now is for additional Field Search Teams to return to the same area to confirm the identity of the body and to look for additional climbers and/or evidence.
Let's all hope for the best...
Mobile Version Of NEClimbs:
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:
Check it out and if you have issues on your specific phone, please feel free to let me know.
NEClimbs & White Mountain Report On Facebook:
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:
Climbing is a very dangerous sport. You can get hurt or even kill yourself. When you go climbing, you do so of your own free will. Everything on this site is to be taken with a grain of salt. Don't blame us if you get up some totally heinous route, in over your head and fall and hurt yourself.
