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SPOILER ALERT... There is political content in this Report, and there will likely be more of the same in the coming weeks. Some of you may decide to unsubscribe from the Report, or even write me angry messages. I fully understand, and that's OK with me. IMNSHO at this stage of things, silence is not an option.
I understand that many who are respected and who have platforms that would allow them to be widely heard, are afraid that standing up and speaking their minds would alienate their base, their fans, their supporters. Local, national and international leaders/influencers alike. Perhaps they would loose sponsorships or work. Shucks, I feel that way to some extent, and I'm basically nobody. I have a musician friend who says that if the worst happens, he will just hunker down in the woods. Considering that he relies on Social Security and Medicare to get along, he's going to have a tough time when those programs are cancelled. And make no mistake, they ARE on the chopping block. And of course "the forest" won't pay his mortgage or that doctor visit, and he can't hide from climate change!
There are close to 50 million people who identify as loving and actively participating in the outdoors on a regular basis, almost double the population of Texas! Some call it Outdoor Nation and perhaps you're one of the citizens. But, are you a part of a silent group? In the last election, 46% of all eligible voters DIDN'T VOTE!!!! Did you? It's past time for the businesses, organizations and the climbers that have a platform to speak out. If we all don't take a stand, we are all going to all be screwed. Some, like Yvone Chouinard of Patagonia, Phil Powers ex-head of the AAC and photographer/videographer Jimmy Chin have spoken up to some extent. Here is an interesting video narrated by Jimmy Chin.
But as good as this video is, as well as it's produced and narrated, it doesn't say who to vote FOR! If you're living on this planet, you must know that this current administration is against the very concept of global warming and climate change, and has repeatedly enacted policies that have put many of the places that we recreate and love at significant risk. Not to mention the increasing likelihood that the rise in global warming is already beginning to decimate the winter sports that we take for granted. Alpinists are the canaries in the coal mine, and they have seen up close the effects of this change on the mountains and glaciers, and more locally on the shortened winters that affect our skiing and ice climbing. Perhaps there is an assumption Jimmy's video that being pro-environment means a vote FOR Biden, against Trump. For me personally that is true. That said if you're a climber, as I assume most if not all of you are for obvious reasons, you are or should be engaged and attuned to the environment and environmental issues and one would hope vote FOR the things you love.
I am well aware that simply because you are a climber, you may not be progressive or liberal or even environmentally inclined. Heck, you might not even be a political moderate. I learned long ago playing in bands across the South, that just having long hair doesn't mean you're a hippie. Look at Charlie Daniels for a good example of that. [wry grin] It's clear to me that we must have political leaders in place that understand these issues and are willing to take action to address them. Both on our own, and also in concert with other countries. The climate and environmental issues are incredibly important, perhaps the most important issues of our time, and that if not addressed almost immediately will have an irreparable effect on our planet! This is FACT, not up for debate. We simply cannot continue down this path. It's time for EVERYONE to speak out. And even more important, it's time for you to VOTE.
One last bit... It's a sad but well known fact that many people vote against their own best interest. This time I hope that you will vote IN your own best interest and in the best interest of the outdoors. Vote BLUE...
Ice Conditions Report:
Selected Ice Conditions effective April 24, 2024
It's all over for 2023/2024.
Huntington Ravine
OUT
Repentance
OUT
Standard Route
OUT
Dracula
OUT
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
SOME LOCAL/NATIONAL PANDEMIC THOUGHTS:
6,115,184 million confirmed cases in the US, 185,752 Americans dead and 863,741 deaths world-wide from the Novel Corona Virus as of Wednesday September 3rd!
There is becoming a push toward the idea of "herd immunity" from the Administration, promoted by the president's new advisor Scott Atlas. There are two paths to herd immunity for COVID-19 — vaccines and infection. We don't have a vaccine yet, and it's not clear that when one becomes available how long protection from a potential vaccine would last. And of course there is worry that not enough people would actually take the vaccine. Creating herd immunity by allowing large number of the population to become infected. In many experts opinions, this is VERY problematic and disturbing. With the US population of 380 million people, experts feel that it would take over 200,000,000 infections to reach that goal, f you can call even it a "goal"! At a death rate of only 1%, that's 2 million citizens dying! IMO and in the opinion of most reputable experts, this is not a rational option. How is this something any rational person would be willing to accept? Yes we need a vaccine... But while that is in the works, we need to wash our hands regularly, wear a mask and not gather in large groups. Is that so much to ask?
The motorcycle rally that brought 400,000 attendees to Sturgis S.D. has sparked at least 260 known positive cases in areas other than S.D. and directly caused one death - SO FAR. We are still waiting and watching to see what happens in New Hampshire following our Motorcycle Week rally a week ago. The Londonderry fire chief is urging anyone from his area that went to the bike rally or the recent Trump rally at the airport in Londonderry to get a Covid test.
FROM WMUR:
The city's fire chief said he personally observed the lack of masks at Trump's rally, and that motivated his memo. Officials estimated there were about 1,400 people indoors and another 2,000 outside at the Trump event last week.
"There was very little social distancing, very little mask-wearing," said Town Manager Kevin Smith.
I find JHU’s Daily COVID-19 Data in Motion report to be very informative. It shares critical data on COVID-19 from the last 24 hours in a short 1 minute animated video format.
WEAR A MASK, SANITIZE AND STAY PHYSICALLY DISTANT FRIENDS!
REMEMBER - WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
VALLEY CYCLING:
I had a plan for riding on Tuesday, but it totally changed...why am I not surprised? The weather looked pretty cloudy, but still OK so my original idea was to drive up to Crawford Notch and either ride Mt Clinton Road or Jefferson Notch Road. Then I had this idea to drive over Jefferson Notch Road to Rt 2 and ride the back side. I've never ridden it on the bike, and actually only driven it once many years ago. About halfway down the hill there was a grader and front loader doing work on the road, totally blocking it off for about 30 minutes. There were no signs alerting you to this taking place and the road was too narrow to go around so I just waited it out. I asked the crew how long they were going to be there, and the said for a couple of days (!) so I decided to do something different. If you haven't been on that side of the Notch, Jefferson Notch Road is significantly steeper and longer than the Crawford side. Just something to consider.
I decided I'd do Pinkham B and maybe ride up to the Horton Center since I've never done that one. I parked at the Howker Ridge Trail/Randolph Path trailhead and headed up the road. I've ridden this many times in spring, summer and fall and it's a pretty nice ride overall with very few cars. At the top of the hill I turned left at the sign for the Horton Center and the Pine Mountain trails. I'd never ridden this road and FWIW it's a pretty unrelentingly uphill 1.8 mile ride to the Center itself. I saw several families out for hikes along the way and a guy doing work on the road about 1/2 way up the road. Overall it was a fun ride and I saw some stuff I hadn't seen before. I recommend it.
PS if you don't want to ride the hill, you can park a little further up the road and ride the Presidential Rail Trail that takes you all the way to Airport Road between Whitefield and Jefferson. I haven't done it personally, but it's on my list. From what I understand the views are spectacular.
https://friendsofthepresidentialrailtrail.org/trail-map/
INSTANT BUG REPORT - Bug CON 2:
Pretty minimal except if you're in the deep woods, weeding the garden or hanging outside at dusk.
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.
