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It’s been a tough several days and frankly I’ve had a very hard time writing the Report this week. First the deaths of Dean Potter and Graham Hunt in a wing-suit BASE jump that went bad. I met Dean briefly at Rumney many years ago and he was definitely one of a kind. I think that was the same day that I saw a pair of prosthetic legs propped up at the base of Waimea. I was, shall we say, overwhelmed that day. I posted a lot of stuff about Dean on the NEClimbs.com forum and our Facebook page lately, mainly because I’ve been struggling to understand how someone can so fully put themselves out on the edge as he did. I’m not sure it’s something that I can ever understand.
Here are all of the links to articles about Dean that I’ve posted over the past several days:
Then 2 days ago a friend and local MWV fixture Greg Muzerall had a massive heart attack and died while riding his mountain bike down in Berwick Maine. As many have said much better than I could; Greg was one of those people that was your friend as soon as you met him. He was a bike mechanic, ski tuner, landscaper, rider, skier, chef and general all-around good guy. He worked on my bikes many times, and he always did a great job. Greg was the salt of the earth, a true Valley boy, and the number of people he touched over his 51 too-short years is many. RIP my friend.
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
Cycling Notes:
Everything in the woods is in good shape right now. If you ride the MTB, I suggest that you just get out there on the trails & do it. Some of the roads that are closed in winter are still not open yet, like Bear Notch, tho I haven’t heard about Evans Notch or the Franconia Bike Path. That means it’s a pretty good time to ride on the road, except for the actual Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy…
Instant Bug Report - BugCON 0:
I’m going to raise the BugCON rating to a 3 because people are hammering so much on me about it, not because I’ve experienced it myself. I was climbing on Whitehorse on Wednesday and they were minimal, have ridden my MTB most days and not been bothered very much at all and was working in my veggie garden this week and didn’t need to wear bug dope. However, lots of folks are saying that they are getting eaten up so I’ll split the difference. It’s supposed to have a hard frost tonight, so maybe that will knock the bugs back! One can always hope...
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
Naked male sport climbers? No! I want naked male trad hogs! Pushing 50 or over, very hairy chest and back, front tooth missing (no dental insurance), wrinkled yellow toenail fungus, sunburnt dome with long gray ponytail (sparse curls will do), fingers the size of Polish sausages, torn-off nipples due to offwidth damage... Now there's a man, an image to behold, every climber chick's dream. And when he says: 'Hey, honey, wanna do the DNB?' you just melt into a heap of adoring lard.
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.
