Like reading the White Mountain Report every week? Why not get it delivered to your e-mailbox every Thursday? All you have
to do is subscribe. It's fast, painless, and best of all it doesn't cost you
a dime!
While we have had fairly spring-like conditions for the past week or so, things are going to change starting tonight. The NWS has issued a Winter Weather Advisory which will be in effect from 8am Friday until 2am Saturday. The full weather report is below, but the gist of it is that there is an expectation of somewhere between 2 to 6 inches of snowfall over the advisory period. While this is a late weather event, it is not unheard of and I'm kind of happy that I haven't put my snowblower away quite yet. Not that it's probably going to last all that long, mind you.
So far this has been a fairly uneventful Spring as the snowmelt has been surprisingly gradual and controlled. "So Far" being the operative words! We haven't had any big rain events, so the rivers haven't overflown their banks and we haven't had any ice-jams so far. That's meant that the ground has been able to absorb the melt so the mud-season aspect of Spring has been pretty minimal. All that said, we almost assuredly WILL have some big rains, the creeks WILL rise, we're going to get some mud, the crevasses in Tuckerman and Huntington will form and the ice up there will fall! It's all just a matter of time. Stay tuned...
The trail up to Humphrey's has been totally free of snow and ice, there doesn't seem to be any ice up above the South Buttress of Whitehorse and even many of the mountain bike trails are firming up - at least the ones like the Rattlesnake Ridge in Redstone. However, regardless of what's been going on here in the Valley, up on the Mountain winter has not abated. If you've kept abreast of the daily avalanche reports, you will have noticed that there have been a number of avalanche events. The link below has some particularly good thoughts by Chris Joosen about what's happening up there and about what the Moderate rating actually means.
Today's avalanche report holds a LOW rating in most locations. However, based on the upcoming weather event, that will most likely increase beginning on Friday and throughout the weekend. I strongly urge you to check the Avalanche Report before venturing into the higher elevations.
NOTE: The Harvard Cabin is closed for the season. The only camping permitting on the eastern side of Mount Washington is at Hermit Lake Shelters.
Ice Conditions Report:
Selected Ice Conditions effective March 21, 2024
I can't actually say that there is nothing out there that can't be climbed. That would be foolish. But for the average, or a little above average climber, that's probably correct. That said, I did hear that there is climbable ice on Parasol in Dixville Notch. Not sure how that will be after we get a foot of heavy wet snow on Saturday. Regardless, here's a few pix I took today just to document things.
Huntington Ravine
AVALANCHE
Repentance
OUT
Standard Route
OUT
Dracula
OUT
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
Notes About Spring Rock Climbing:
Several folks have emailed or PM'ed me on NEClimbs about climbing rock in the Valley right now. IMNSHO the only "reasonably safe" place to climb rock here right now is at Humphrey's Ledge, the South Buttress of Whitehorse left of Atlantis Corner and Sundown Ledge. Almost everywhere still else has ice and snow up above it , some visible and some not so much, and it IS going to fall down over the coming weeks. We need a week of warm sunny days and some significant warm rain before it will clear out. Here are some pix I took Thursday morning that you should find interesting:
CONSIDER DONATING TO NECLIMBS AND THE WHITE MOUNTAIN REPORT:
If you enjoy getting the White Mountain Report and using NEClimbs.com, please take a minute to help support them. It's easy, just go ON LINE and make your donation via PayPal. You don't need a PayPal account, you can use almost any credit card. Just click the link below:
Of course you can also contribute via check or money order to make your contribution. Just make it out to NEClimbs and send it here:
NEClimbs
92 Bow Lane
North Conway, NH 03860
Thank you once again for your support...
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
The solitary ascent of the Dru had the immediate effect of expanding the horizons of my ideas about mountaineering. It made me aware of possibilities well in advance of the times, which were characterized by very restricted mothods. This was how the suberb pyramid of K2 surfaced once more in the list of my projects. But I chose K2 as a way for giving concrete form to my new concept of mountaineering: to climb the second highest montain in the world solo, alpine style, and without oxygen.
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.
