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Well here we are all the way into 2015. It’s hard to believe that the New Year is already upon us, but here it is. I don’t know what you did last night, but I played a great New Year’s party in Denmark Maine with the Bruce Marshall Group. I thought about blowing off the report this week, but figured I couldn’t let you folks down, so here it is - short & sweet!
Anyway, it’s really hard to believe is that we are just NOW getting out ice season started. But in fact that is the case. You all know how much rain and warm weather we’ve had, but now here we are after 3 solid days of darn cold temps. And actually that’s just about what it takes to get things going again. No, it’s not great, but there IS ice out there to climb. Of course a lot of it is scrappy, but is IS ice. And that’s what makes us all smile this time of year. What we need now is some snow to get things to form up in the places where the melt off the snowpack is what gives us the liquid, like Fang and the Frankenstein Amphitheater. But there are some nice runnels and drools that have formed up that are cool - like Shoestring, Read Between The Lines, some stuff on Mt Washington and others. Bring some stubbies and be prepared to throw in a little rock gear where needed and you’ll have a good time.
Enjoy the New Year folks…
Mount Washington Observatory MW Valley Weather:
A trough of low pressure will remain overhead today continuing a westerly flow of low-level moisture as well as unseasonably cold temperatures. The moisture moving in will allow for variable amounts of cloud cover with areas in the north seeing mostly cloudy conditions and southern areas seeing mostly to partly cloudy conditions. The moist flow will also bring about the chance of a few upslope snow showers in the northern half of the state. A cold front with the trough will swing through Thursday night into Friday morning bringing continued unsettled weather before tapering and trending towards clearing late in the day as the front exits offshore. Behind the front, a ridge of Canadian high pressure will build from the west allowing skies to continue trending towards clearing Friday night. As the front exits and the high builds, a reinforcing shot of cold northern air will rotate in dropping temperatures below normal once again. When the cold temperatures are factored with the stiff winds over the forecast period, exposed skin will feel even colder when wind chill values are factored. If outdoors for prolonged periods, be sure to have no exposed skin as the risk of frost nip or bite may result.
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
Here are a few pix from this morning:
Be sure to check out the Mt Webster & Shoestring pix. interesting the party only that far on Webster at 12:30!
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.
