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So after 3 sunny and incredibly beautiful daze, we hit a rainy patch. 2 days of drizzle that we need, but that hasn't made it exactly fun. Once again I don't think that there will be a true mud season again this spring, tho I'm not sure that's a good thing. The snow seemed to evaporate into the air, and with the sandy soil we've got here in the Valley any moisture is gone already. Oh, but lest I forget, it's partly sunny and 56 degrees on Friday morning!
On the positive side, the rock is drying out quickly and the ice that's up on the cliffs here & there is going quick. That said, there still is stuff up in the nooks and crannies that's coming out. A couple of days ago I could hear stuff falling off over on Cathedral that certainly made me uneasy. And in spite of 3 warm days and 2 days of rain, I've still seen stuff up on top of the Whitehorse slabs and in the Flush. I still remember how on a beautiful sunny day a while back ice falling out of Standard Route on Cathedral seriously injured a climber on Toe Crack. In addition there is definitely ice and debris up on the Unicorn ledge above the North End cracks!
So where is it safe to rock climb now? Although there are no guarantees, IMNSHO the safest place to climb right now is Jockey Cap in Fryeburg. Of course you can climb at Humphrey's, the South Buttress or a myriad of other places, but I just happen to like Jockey Cap to get my rock-feet thing going. At JC there is nothing above the various climbing areas and it always dries quickly. I was there this past Sunday with Brad for our spring tune-up and it was truly wonderful. Besides the left wall and crack, which is always fun, there are a number of very nice mostly bolted routes on the front, above the big headwall. You can access them by walking around to the top and carefully walking down to the anchors or climbing up the left side. You can start on the lower left corner, swing around on the left of the west face and continue up a slab to a crack and on up to the anchor. This is a nice bit of trad climbing that will get you to where you can see the other upper anchors. There are anchors below all of these climbs above the lower headwall. You can do all of these climbs with a single 60 meter rope and rap off from the left-most anchor with the single rope if you swing a bit left. Here's a picture or two:
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:
In general the mountain bike riding is a mixed bag. I rode the Echo Lake trails on Wednesday before ether rain started. Overall it was OK, with a few icy/snowy bits that are easily bypassed. That said, there were at least 3 big trees down that need to be chain-sawed out. I have not yet been on the Marshall property, but I would imagine it to still be wet. On the East Side there is a fair amount to be ridden. Twilight Zone/Outer Limits is mostly rideable and someone has raked & cleaned it up. You can ride rattlesnake and Swamp tho as of a couple of daze ago Sidehill wasn't ready. Places that are normally wet are still so and of course the Power Lines are running water. IMO we should be good to go in many if not most places by early next week. Stay tuned...
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:
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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.
