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According to a Yosemite Park official there has been a massive rock fall on El Capitan on on Wednesday that has killed at least one person and injured another. Reports indicate that at least 30 climbers were on the wall at the time. Park Ranger Scott Gediman said it is not clear if the victims were climbers or tourists. "It was witnessed by a lot of people," he said. The injured person was taken to a hospital near the park. The extent of their injuries are unknown.
At this time park rangers are assessing the situation but the park remains open. "The release point appears to be near the "Waterfall Route", a popular climbing route on the East Buttress of El Capitan.
Here is a picture taken by climber Ryan Sheridan on El Cap at the time and posted on Super Topo and Facebook.
Canadian climber Peter Zabrok, 57, who was on El Cap and was above the rock fall, said: "I saw a piece of rock, white granite the size of an apartment building, at least 100 feet by 100 feet, suddenly just come peeling off the wall with no warning." Zabrok said he and friends were in the middle of a six-day climb of the Waterfall route on the right side of El Capitan when they saw it. "Boy, I don't know how anybody could have survived that," he told KFSN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Fresno.
BOLTON VT UPDATE:
Last week I posted about the accident at Bolton. A few days ago I received an email from Kel Rossiter of Adventure Spirit Guides containing the following news:
"Fortunately, there is good news coming out of the VT climbing scene as well. Recently, CRAG-VT signed an agreement to purchase a long-sought-after cliff known as Bolton Dome. We've got a loan from the Access Fund lined up and things are moving ahead positively; however, this is all going to cost a lot of money in the end. In the interest of raising awareness about this potential and helping to advance the NE climbing community, I'm hoping that you can feature this news in your next Report. You can find details about the project here:"
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
PEREGRINE UPDATE:
NH Audubon biologist Chris Martin sent me an email about the state of the Peregrine population in NH. As you may know they have significantly scaled back the banding over the past several years. Here is a graph that will give you a quick overview of their status since 1980.
MOUNT WASHINGTON VALLEY ICE FEST 2018:
In case you had forgotten, the 25 annual Ice Fest is coming up. Mark February 2-4 on your calendars and stay tuned. It's going to be a good one!
VALLEY CYCLING:
This is a great time of year to be riding the mountain bike, and maybe not so much for the road. The woods are starting to turn and the weather has shifted from Summer to Fall, so it's quite nice to be out riding. That said, it's a dangerous time to be out on the road. Not only are there a lot of tourists looking at the foliage and not where they're going, there are a plethora of tour busses on the road. If you insist on being on the road bike right now, be super vigilant.
INSTANT BUG REPORT:
No bugs for the most part right now. Oh how wonderful it is!
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
The vias normales had perfect lines but new rock was the essence of climbing for us; throwing loose holds over the shoulder, feeling the exposed grains crush like sugar on footholes....
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.
