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There is lots of cool stuff going on this weekend here in the Valley. I'm really bummed, in a way, that I'm not going to be around for it - I'm playing music on Friday and Saturday nights (Saturday is a benefit for MS in Laconia) and then I'm leaving for a week at the Gunks with my good friend George Hurley. All are great things to do, but I'm disappointed to miss out on a fabulous bunch of events. Well it could be a lot worse, I could be stuck having to work in a basement somewhere! [yuck] In any event I've been including info about this stuff for the past couple of weeks, but this week I'm moving it up to the top. I hope you can get away for the weekend to take part.
The thing I'm most disappointed in not seeing is Doug Scott's slideshow. He is one of the major mountaineers of the past generation. If you don't know about him, check this out:
It's interesting that apparently all of his ascents, other than Everest, were done lightweight alpine style! Doug is talking on Saturday night, don't miss it.
2012 American Alpine Club Northeast Craggin' Classic:
A three-day festival of climbing, camping, slide shows, crag stewardship,
dancing, and fun on Sept. 21-23 in North Conway, New Hampshire.
Registration is now open: festival tickets, clinic spots, and campground reservations are now available at Brown Paper Tickets.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS:
Friday, September 21
* All-day guided climbs available at discounted rates from EMS,
IMCS, Winkler Mountain Guide, and Synnott Mountain Guides
* Post-climbing slacklining, snacks, and beverages at the beach in
Echo Lake State Park
* Evening slide shows at Zip's Pub, Cranmore Mountain Resort
* Mark Synnott and Ed Webster talk about what makes Cathedral Ledge
one of the best cliffs in the world.
* Jason Kruk, a young rising star in rock climbing and alpinism
circles, talks about his home granite in Squamish, adventures in
the Canadian Rockies, and the first "fair means" ascent of the
Southeast Ridge of Cerro Torre with the subsequent removal of the
controversial Maestri bolts
* Camping at Echo Lake State Park (campsites limited, ]pre-registration required)
Saturday, September 22
* Morning gear demos, coffee, and beach yoga at Echo Lake
* Stewardship trail-building project with the NH State Parks
* Half-day skills clinics: Self-rescue, Anchors 101, Rappelling
Systems, Multi-pitch Systems (pre-registration required)
* Post-climbing slacklining, tug-of-war contest, and beverages at the
beach in Echo Lake State Park
* Evening slide show and dance party at Zip's Pub
* Doug Scott, the legendary British climber known for pioneering
big-wall and high-altitude ascents, presents his show: Big Wall
Climbing Around the World
* DJ Mon Voyage Neon returns to North Conway to spin dance tunes
after the show
* Camping at Echo Lake State Park (campsites limited, pre-registration required)
Sunday, September 23
* Morning gear demos, coffee, and beach yoga at Echo Lake
* Kismet Cliff Run: one of New England's toughest & most
beautiful trail runs
* Half-day skills clinics: Self-rescue, Anchors 101, Rappelling
Systems, Multi-pitch Systems (pre-registration required)
4th Annual Kismet Cliff Run:
The Kismet Cliff Run is one of New England's toughest and most beautiful trail runs! Enjoy twisting singletrack, brutal climbs and swooping down hills around the soaring cliffs and granite boulders of North Conway, New Hampshire. Choose the classic 5 mile course, or new this year, the 14 mile "Beast of the East" course which summits majestic North Moat Mountain.
The KCR is now a part of The American Alpine Club's "Craggin' Classic" series. Based in Echo Lake State Park, come join fellow climbers and trail runners with fun events all weekend long!
When:Sunday, September 23, 2012
To register and FMI: www.kismetcliffrun.org
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
A Little More On CMC Craig:
I did get out there again last week, this time with George Hurley. We timed the walk-in at 13 minutes to the place where you break left to get to the bottom of the Main Cliff. This is by two old guys, one with 2 bionic knees, so most folks should be able to manage it easily in that time frame. The one drag part of the access is that the beat-out trail goes to the top of the cliff. If you break left before the little mossy headwall where you can see the cliff you end up going across a steepish pine-straw covered section that's uncomfortable. It needs to be set up so you go left a couple of hundred feet earlier so you avoid that part.
That said, we had a great afternoon up there. I led the 5.8 furthest to the right, Clean Yer Act Up.
It's a nice little climb with an interesting crux about 2/3 of the way up. George top-roped the CMC Crack and Good For The Soul and then he led Wild Things. This is the off-width chimney on the left side of the crag. This climb is just "so" George and he nailed it. Sure it was only 5.7, but the move out of the chimney was definitely wild. Rapping down from that he spotted an interesting line in the lichen that he wanted to try on TR. He got up part of the way, but decided theater it wasn't worth the effort. We finished off with my leading Keep'n It Natural, a cool 5.8 with a couple of entertaining moves.
All in all a neat afternoon's fun. I've got to get over there before long to check out the "slab" climbs in the other area to the left. Here's a couple of pictures from the day's fun:
Instant Bug Report:
It was supposed to be a hard freeze Wednesday night, but that didn't happen. It barely got down to 40! Since we're still waiting for a hard freeze to kill off the lingering mosquitoes, BugCON stays at the rating. In various places and at dawn and dusk they can still be annoying.
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:
Remember - climb hard, ride the steep stuff, stay safe and above all BE NICE,
Al Hospers
The White Mountain Report
North Conway, New Hampshire
From Everest Base Camp, you can walk four hours and you're lounging on grass, drinking beer with trekkers. K2 stands absolutely on its own. The approach is hard. The base camp feels like the moon. The mountain itself looks utterly impregnable, and there's no easy way up the thing. And all this hits you between the eyes when you see it for the first time. It's like that famous Munch painting. You know the one—The Scream? Except, of course, you're the one doing the screaming.
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.
