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It’s a gas to finally meet in person people I’ve corresponded with over the years. This week I finally hooked up with Bobby G, someone I’ve talked with on NEClimbs for quite a while. He lives in DC, but comes up here and we’ve talked about getting together, but it just hasn’t happened for one reason or another. You’d think I would have time to get out almost anytime, but it doesn’t quite work like that. Go figure…
We’d emailed back & forth and made plans to climb on Tuesday afternoon, but it rained Monday night and when I got up it was still drizzling. SHEESH! I had a appointment at noon and before I left I texted him that I didn’t think it was going to happen, but it didn’t go through. Strangely enough, I got home and it was clear and breezy and the street looked as if it hadn’t rained at all so I grabbed my stuff and headed over there. His truck was parked on the road, but he wasn’t there so I hiked in a bit and hollered his name. I heard a call back from up by Weissner’s and he walked down the hill. Very cool -
Things looked wet, but I figured we should just head on up and maybe we could find something dry enough to climb. You never know, right? Everything we looked at from Weissner’s past Robinson Crusoe was sopping, but when we got to the Cakewalk face were were pleasantly surprised that it looked dry. We figured what the heck, so he led the first pitch up to the belay tree in the gully. I followed and instead of going to the tree headed up to the the bolt anchor straight up. I brought him up and we looked around in surprise, everything on the upper wall was basically dry! So, to make a long story short, we climbed the second pitch of Cakewalk, the second pitch of Mr. Moto and the second pitch of Above & Beyond. It was all very nice and dry and was well worth the effort.
It just goes to show you that if you want to climb bad enough, you can often find something to do. Hopefully we will manage to find a bit nicer a day to get out sometime, but all in all this was pretty nice regardless.
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
Valley Cycling Notes:
My friends and I like to think that we have some of the best mountain biking in the Northeast right here in our little Valley, tho I’m sure there are lots of good trails all over. There’s the 25 miles on the west side, the Moat side of town, another 25 or so on the East side in the vicinity of Middle Mountain, Pudding Pond and Redstone, plus probably another 8-10 of interesting stuff around Davis Hill. What’s often forgotten about is the network of trails and logging roads in the Robb Brook area off Bear Notch Road. If you look on Google Earth you can see just how many miles of roads and trails wind and wander all over that area. If you haven’t ridden over there I highly recommend it. You can easily spend a day riding out there. I know that some of the folks who are climbing at Green’s Cliif and Owl’s are accessing it from there as well. And if you like that area you can check out the Experimental Forest trails on the Bartlett side of the road or Sawyer River Road & Sawyer Pond. There’s lots to do so explore & enjoy.
AAC Craggin’ Classic Get-together:
Put this on your schedules - September 11-13. More details will come later.
Instant Bug Report - BugCON 3:
In spite of some folks saying that the bugs are horrific, honestly I just don’t see it. I’ve been at Whitehorse, Cathedral, Humphreys and riding all over in the woods and feel that they are no worse than any other time, maybe even a little better. So I’m dropping BugCON to a 3.
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
Climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are naught
without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the
happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; look well to each step;
and from the beginning think what may be the end.
Edward Whymper, 1865, the first ascent of the Matterhorn
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.
