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Close to perfect is how you can describe today, with sunny skies and temps in the mid-20's. After yesterday, which could only be described as a miserable mix of snow and freezing rain, anything would be nice. But this is exactly what we expect out of a near-spring day in New England. Tho we are not quite to the first true day of spring, there should be no question that it's well on the way.
Over the past several years it seems to me that spring has come a bit early, and right now all the signs of spring are already here. Keeping your eyes open while wandering around in the woods you can certainly see the signs - a decided lessening of the snowpack, hollows forming around the bases of the trees and even subtle but recognizable changes in the buds on bushes and trees. The wonderful warmth of last weekend really got me into full-on thinking about the coming spring and now I see it everywhere I look. And it being o warm that I got out for a long ride on my road bike on Sunday didn't hurt either. Climbing ice on Saturday and riding the bike on Sunday was pretty darn special.
Although we will most certainly get some more snow and winter, I know in my heart that it won't last very long. All I have to do is to is look around me and notice the lack of ice in the river, the clearing on the South Buttress and the rows poking up through the Schatner strawberry fields.
I don't know why it was, but the time change last Saturday really did kind of screw me up. While it's staying light later, being still dark at 6AM is confusing for my inner clock. Maybe the fact that we flew back from Los Angeles on the redeye the week before also turned me around, I don't know. I just wish that they didn't screw around with the time any more. The days of needing that extra hour of daylight to get the crops in are long one!
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
(New) Ice Route Question:
Last Wednesday I climbed the thin curtain about 30' right of Elephant Head Gully. I had done it previously in fatter conditions one cold and snowy day in the early 90's with my old partner Yuki Fujita. We didn't think anyone had done it before us and thought we had bagged a FA. However later we heard-tell that someone had done it, but it never seemed to have gotten reported. If you or you know someone who did it, please let me now. I'm going to put it in the route database on NEClimbs and I'd like to have the FA info, unless we really did bag it!
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.
