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FINALLY the weather broke last Friday. What an incredible relief to go from the upper 90's to 70's and not mid-80's. Even the 80's feel positively balmy, by comparison. It actually reminds me of when winter temps bounce up to the mid-30's and we get a break from the brutal cold. That's when you see folks wandering around North Conway in shorts and sweat shirts!
This isn't the end of the summer heat for sure, but it's a wonderful respite. The prognosticators are pointing to another warm up starting on Monday and possibly getting back up into the 90's again! It's not something I look forward to, especially since I don't have AC in the house. But I get out any way, just because it's better than sitting around. There are some places to climb that are basically in the shade and riding the mountain bike, even on a very hot day, can be OK. Keeping moving is a good thing, as long as it's not too humid. And it's always nice to come back and realize I've knocked off another pound of water weight. Of course you put it right back on if you have a couple of beers, which I'm really trying to avoid if at all possible.
I got out climbing on Tuesday with Brad. It was moderate in the morbid g, but started warming up pretty good by 10 when we met at the Whitehorse lot. My plan was to climb Rain Of Fire, one of his and Ian Cruickshank's routes from BITD. It goes from the anchor of revolt of The Bolt Brigade, just left of Beelzebub
Corner and ends at the Loose Lips anchor. I've done it many times, but not in probably close to 10 years.
I've mentioned before that Beelzebub has changed over the past few years, so I climbed across the ledge that goes under Seventh Seal and the Ethereal Crack and around the corner on the left. Unfortunately it left me in a funny place to try to get to the Revolt anchor. There wasn't a good way to get across from above, and I didn't feel comfortable down-climbing Beelzebub. So I set up and anchor on the tree above the corner and belayed Brad up.
I looked around for a way to get across and spotted a left angling flake/crack that looked as if it would get me to where I wanted to be about 20' above the Revolt anchor and on route. I started across, plugging in a couple of pieces and slinging a small tree. However, the cracked turned out to be more of a thin hollow flake and tapping on it didn't make me feel very good. [sigh] On top of that, after the tree there were several moved with no gear that would leave Brad in a bad place if he came off. Coupling that with it getting hotter by the minute, I decided that retreat was the better part of valor and I down climbed and tensioned back to the belay. I HATE to give up, but I decided that I'd rather take a TR run on Seventh Seal than get myself into a pickle on a very hot day.
So we went up to the top of the buttress, set up the rope and rapped down. By now it was almost 90, but fortunately there was a little breeze. I got Brad to belay me on the Seal, but somewhat unsurprisingly he declined to take a run. All in all it was great to get out, but I hate to be skunked. I vow to return on a cooler day. If you haven't done Rain Of Fire, I highly recommend it. It's a very nice 5.9 and reasonably well protected. IMNSHO if there was another bolt on Revolt, that would make it a great 2 pitches. but unfortunately Revolt is a bit on the runout side. Here's a couple of pictures...
THEFT WARNING:
Mt Washington Ranger Frank Carus posted a note on Facebook that his motorcycle was broken into at Cathedral Ledge recently. A few other folks mentioned that this happened to their car and someone else mentioned that a similar incident occurred at Whitehorse. I think it's been a while since this kind of thing took place and if you're like me, I've gotten lax. Be sure to lock your car, take your wallet with you and don't leave anything visible in the car.
Ice Conditions Report:
Selected Ice Conditions effective March 21, 2024
I can't actually say that there is nothing out there that can't be climbed. That would be foolish. But for the average, or a little above average climber, that's probably correct. That said, I did hear that there is climbable ice on Parasol in Dixville Notch. Not sure how that will be after we get a foot of heavy wet snow on Saturday. Regardless, here's a few pix I took today just to document things.
Huntington Ravine
AVALANCHE
Repentance
OUT
Standard Route
OUT
Dracula
OUT
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
PEREGRINE CLOSINGS AND RESTRICTIONS 2018:
Cathedral Ledge (north end only, right of Remission) in Bartlett, NH (Note: this posting begins on 5/25)
Eagle Cliff (south end of mountain) in Franconia, NH
Frankenstein Cliff (front cliff only) in Harts Location, NH
Holts Ledge in Lyme, NH
Painted Walls in Albany, NH
Rumney Rocks (Summit Cliff and nearby) in Rumney, NH
Woodchuck Ledge (right half of cliff) in Albany, NH (Note: this posting begins on 5/25)
Peregrines are present at a number of additional cliffs where no closures have been posted because recreational use is minimal. Climbers are advised to alter plans, and report the incident, if you encounter aggressive falcons during a climb at any NH site.
All areas will be reopened by August 1.
VALLEY CYCLING:
Great riding conditions abound. If you're a downhiller, check out the new section on the Red Tail Trail, off Hurricane MountainRoad. Some amazing jumps are in place. Otherwise everything else id in excellent nick. Enjoy...
INSTANT BUG REPORT - BUGCon 3:
How you fare without DEET will depend on location and the breeze. While they aren't too bad, I would urge you to bring the bug dope along.
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
Profanity is about the best pro you'll get until the crack starts to narrow. Include doubles of profanity in the #6 to #8 range on your rack for this lead.
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.
