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I was coming back from the gym this morning (yes I did say the GYM, but that’s another story) when I spotted 2 flights of ducks heading in a southward direction in perfect V’s. Couple that with 2 days of rain, and another on the way, and you just have to figure that we’re at the end of fall on the way toward winter. Of course we did have a very nice weekend and a near-perfect Monday. Considering just how nice it’s been, from the end of summer right through the fall, there’s not been a whole heck of a lot to complain about.
Last week I mentioned that the Perez’s and I put up a new route on Mt Forist called Birthday Boy. We had figured it would come in at 5.9, but weren’t sure. 2 friends of ours went up and did it the following day and confirmed the rating. I hope you will give it a shot if you are out there some time.
I got out onto the South Buttress of Whitehorse with my friend Bobby last Thursday for the first time in a while. I keep saying I want to get out there, but just don’t seem to manage it. While I didn’t get any pictures, I can assure you that it was another of those bluebird days we had been having. We climbed the classic linkup of Hotter than Hell and the Inferno crack, plus the topout. As always it was wonderful. I did HTH, Bobby did the crack and I did the finish. His comment about HTH was perfect; “That was a really thoughtful pitch.” I couldn’t agree more. It’s just a 5.9, but one that has you thinking all the time. Of course the crack is great, and the finish is almost as good - slightly pumpy, but not too much. All in all a wonderful day, only marred by my loosing my favorite sunglasses on the walk out. If anyone is over there and finds a pair of red Julbo’s, I’d really appreciate them back. I walked back in to look for them, to no avail. [sigh]
2015/2016 NECLIMBS FUNDRAISER:
We are getting close to ice season and thus it’s time for the annual NEClimbs.com and White Mountain report Fundraiser. I know it’s a hassle to think about donating money to anything, and frankly I hate asking for $$, but I figure it’s something that I need to do. Before long I’ll be making trips up to the Notches, taking my pictures and making sure that you all know just what’s going on with the ice. The weekly ice report is something that can make your life a lot easier, and even save you a lot of time and gas money, depending on how things are looking. For example, we had a great start to last year, and then we had a rain and warmup that took it all down. And then we had a real cool down in about 10 days, and it all came back. If you were reading the Report the week before Christmas and the one that came out Christmas day, yes I went up and took pictures on the afternoon of the 25th, you would have see that it wasn’t worth the trip up here to climb. And of course if you read the first report of 2015 you would have known that things came back like gangbusters.
If you could, please take a minute out of your busy day to make a token $20 annual donation to support NEClimbs and the White Mountain Report. It takes a pretty good effort to get out there and take those pictures and process them every Thursday throughout the winter. And on top of that to keep you all up to date with what's happening year-round. In addition it actually takes $$ to keep the site going, maintain the weather station and the webcam. It's time consuming… besides, what it would be like without this weekly mailing, especially in the winter?
You can make your donation of any amount ON LINE. It's painless and you can use pretty much any credit card. Simply click the link below to make your contribution.
As always you can also contribute via check or money order for $20. Just make it out to NEClimbs and send it here:
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92 Bow Lane
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The White Mountain Report newsletter has been put out consistently since 1998. I have archived almost all of the Reports from as far back as September of 1999 and you can read them online at any time! The current traffic on NEClimbs.com is well over 1,000 unique visits a day, has over 1.4 million monthly "hits”. This funky little newsletter goes weekly out to over 1,200 subscribers every Thursday. PLEASE REMEMBER, tho it’s certainly a labor of love, it's your contribution that makes this newsletter and the NEClimbs web site possible.
THANK YOU for your continued support...
Ice Conditions Report:
Selected Ice Conditions effective April 24, 2024
It's all over for 2023/2024.
Huntington Ravine
OUT
Repentance
OUT
Standard Route
OUT
Dracula
OUT
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
YET ANOTHER NEW - TO ME - CLIMBING AREA:
On Monday I went to Longstack Precipice down in the New Durham - Alton area with the Perez’s and George Hurley. It was yet another great day, starting out quite chilly, but warming to the mid-60’s in the sun by noon. Longstack is yet another of those hidden gems that we occasionally find in NH. While it was climbed in the 70’s and perhaps earlier, it generally remained a secret until 2011, when John Garlogh and his Chino crew discovered it and started wholesale development. By now there must be 100 routes, maybe more, of all shapes and kinds and probably something for almost everyone. Interestingly enough the cliff looks more like the Gunks than Cathedral or Whitehorse, with a fair number of cracks and horizontals. In addition it’s more or less south facing which makes it a great destination in the early spring or late fall. It’s hard for me to give directions since I’ve only been there once, but it’s almost exactly 7 miles from Wolfeboro off Rt 28. Jon Garlough published a guidebook, the "Chinos Guide - Climbing in the New Durham Area”, and copies can be bought for $20 at IME in North Conway
George has been there several times and knew the easiest place to park and best way in. It was only about a 20 minute hike from our car, but the uphill to (and downhill from) the cliff was a bit treacherous due to the leaves on the ground. We got a late start, old folks you understand, and probably didn’t get to the crag until about 11. By then the sun was fully on the cliff and it was very nice. We spent all of our time on the left side of the cliff this time. George had done Strychnine (5.9) a couple of times before and he led it for us again. I thought a couple of the moves were tricky, but as always he just floated them. I led pitch 2 while Joe & Judy had a go on it. As we rapped I threw a rope on a route just to the left called Raven’s Song. Apparently it’s not in the book yet, but it’s rated 5.7. After a quick lunch I led another one on the left called A Toltec Dream (5.7). I thought it was pretty nice, tho the easy slab sections were somewhat runout for the grade. The best part was the dike on the headwall right at the top. It was very neat. George followed it and Joe led it right behind us.
By this time it was 3:30 and I could see that the sun was getting ready to set behind the ridgeline across the way. I suggested that it might be a good idea to call it a day, and the others agreed. At this time of year it gets dark earlier and quicker than it does earlier in the summer. Other than some slips and slides on the leaves on the walk out, it was uneventful and we got back to the car just before dark.
A couple of thoughts… There is a sandpit across the valley that is used as a shooting range. While we were there we heard quite a lot of shooting, including some which surely was semi-automatic. It’s not a problem, but it can be disconcerting. In all of our opinions, the grades of the climbs were a bit understated and there are definitely some runout sections on moderate climbs. It’s just something to be aware of. All in all it’s another great place to climb that will rarely be busy and where you will certainly find something to get your attention. We all recommend it.
On another topic, we all decided to grab some dinner together and opted for Mexican. Someone had suggested El Centario. We thought it was good and the Margaritas were ample. Check it out if you have a chance.
VALLEY CYCLING:
The riding this week hasn’t been all that great, but I’ve taken some time to tune up my fat tire bike and gather up my stuff for winter riding. Kind of like getting your ice gear together!
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.
