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I’m going to make this short and sweet because my phone is ringing off the hook, my text messages are filling up and my email basket is overflowing. Everyone wants the answer to the question; “IS THERE ICE?” And the answer, after a day of rain, a night of temps in the 40’s and a morning of temps in the upper 40’s (even up in the Notches) is a resounding YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS ICE. And YES THERE WILL BE AN ICE FEST!!!!!
Needless to say, we did take a hit from this crazy weather, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as any of us expected. Of course Diagonal fell down, for the 4th time this year, but pretty much all of the larger climbs hung on - so to speak. Golfers, Black Pudding, Dracula, Standard, Dropline all are still there. Even the North End of Cathedral looks like it’s reasonable. I wouldn’t walk under the middle part of Cathedral Ledge (Repentance or Remission), try to climb the stuff in the Frankenstein Amphitheater or the left face of Willard, but that’s not at all surprising.
All that said, check out the MWV weather report below. It’s going to start cooling down tonight and going to stay that way through the weekend. I was talking to some of my guide friends like Bayard Russell and Marc Chauvin in the Frontside this morning and the consensus is that things will be JUST FINE for the weekend. You just want to take a bit more caution checking out how well things are bonded and be extra careful on the top outs and you should be OK. Of course YMMV, and there are no warranties, either implicit or explicit in this Report. [wry grin]
ICE FEST 2016:
February 5-7, 2016 here in the Mount Washington Valley in North Conway, NH. We are super psyched to have another killer festival for the climbing community...filled with demos, clinics, parties, shows, good food, and more! Check it out and keep up to date at http://www.mwv-icefest.com. You can also Check out the downloadable schedule here: http://www.mwv-icefest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016_IceFestSchedule.pdf
NOTE - There will be an additional couple of HUNDRED climbers in the Valley and Notches this weekend for the Fest. Please be prepared to share the climbs and be careful.
Ice Conditions Report:
Selected Ice Conditions effective January 16, 2020
These pictures and today's Report is actually from 1/15, Wednesday. I knew it was going to be snowing almost all day today and I would not be able to take any pictures, so I went up to the Notch yesterday, figuring that 24 hours would make very little difference. I was pleasantly surprised at how much ice survived the 3 days of record temps and rain. In spite of everything the weather threw at us, there is still ice to climb and while the Frankenstein Amphitheater looks even worse, there are still options. This is a time to be cautious due to possible delamination, but if you want to get out and climb, you can. Just be aware that the next several days will be VERY cold, so dress appropriately and beware of what will likely be some very brittle ice.
Huntington Ravine
options - beware avalanche danger
Repentance
OUT
Standard Route
OK but top is a mess again
Dracula
kind of OK but top out bad!
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
ACCIDENTS:
There were 2 accidents last week. I don’t have time to rehash them here, but you can read about them on NEClimbs.com or on our FaceBook page. One on Hitchcock and the other on Pegasus. It’s worth reading the reports on them if you get a chance.
VALLEY CYCLING:
Before the rain the fat tire riding was fantastic. It’s really soft and wet now so please don’t ride until things firm up, hopefully by Saturday. FWIW 2 local riders rode up the Tucks Trail, all the way into the ravine and back down the trail on Tuesday! It is not illegal, so I expect to see this happen again as soon as we get a little more snowpack. In addition a Red Bull athlete rode up the Auto Road on Wednesday to the summit in 1:20! This was a part of a sponsored event that was filmed by a helicopter and not allowed otherwise. Still it was pretty cool. I can’t wait to see the pictures.
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 some 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.
