Like reading the White Mountain Report every week? Why not get it delivered to your e-mailbox every Thursday? All you have
to do is subscribe. It's fast, painless, and best of all it doesn't cost you
a dime!
Two days of rain came through this week, yielding almost 1.5 inches of liquid. YUCK... Yes, it made a mess of some cliff area for climbing for a day or two and made my gig at the Fryeburg Fair on Tuesday night, less than enjoyable. That said, the weekend looks great, foliage is ripening fast and I'm sure that things will dry out quickly.
I've written several times about climbing at the newish little cliff out near Fryeburg. Brad and I have talked about the possibility of adding an additional route to the ones already there and last Sunday we got out and did one. This climb starts up on the right side of the cliff just behind a tree. It climbs past 4 bolts, over a small hump/overlap to a 2 bolt anchor. The rock was covered with lichen and moss and took us a couple of hours of effort to get it cleaned off. When we led it the rock was still dusty and a bit dirty, but the 2 days of rain we just had should have cleaned it off.
Brad had the honors for the FA and I did the second. While we were there a couple came up with their young son. I believe that the woman is Heather and I can't remember her husband's name. She grabbed the 3rd ascent of the route, which is still unnamed. Brad and I thought it was abut 5.5 and she agreed.
If you haven't been out there, check it out. It's a nice alternative to everything else and it's all bolted & moderate. A few pix below. Check out the huge wasp nest we spotted in a tree near the trail. It's bigger than my head, and that's big folks. Nope, it's na-da piñata! LOL
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
YANKEE ROCK AND ICE RELEASE PARTY:
If you're a climber in New England and you don't know about this book, you certainly should. YR&I is a classic history of Rock and Ice climbing in New England from 1916-1989, with an emphasis on the Gunks and North Conway. The original book was written by Guy and Laura Waterman and first published in 1993 and is considered a classic in its genera. It was reissued in paperback in 2002 and has now been updated by local climber Michael Wejchert and rereleased.
There will be a book release party for the new edition this Saturday, October 6th, at IME at 7PM.
ICE FEST 2019:
This years Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest is February 1-3. Put it on your schedule now. You don't want to miss it.
VALLEY CYCLING:
The Bike For Books ride last weekend was wonderful as usual. It was about as nice a day as you could ask for to do a 20 mile ride. Tho we had 2 daze of rain this week, I rode at Marshall yesterday evening and everything was great. With the foliage coming in it's a great time to be in the woods.
INSTANT BUG REPORT - BUGCon 1:
NONE but the occasional mosquito...oh, and tick!
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.
