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December 31, 2020
Hi Folks,
Here we are at the close of one of the toughest stretches of time I've experienced in my 73 years. I'm a generally positive and optimistic person, but 2020 has truly tested my limits. Thank goodness for music, climbing, the mountain bike and most especially for my dear friends. I know it's going to be a long winter, but here's a toast in hope of a MUCH better 2021. Stay safe, enjoy everything you can and above all be kind. I'll see you in the New Year.
WOW - It's my final Ice Report of 2020! I wish I had a better report to provide, but unfortunately, like 2020 itself, it's pretty poor. That said, I am optimistic that '21 will be better. I need to point out a couple of things about these pictures.
1) I write this Report for the general public. You will see pictures on social media and people climbing things that imply that it's great out there. I don't think so, but this is only my opinion. YMMV...
2) Overall the ice looks better in these pictures than it actually is. I spent a lot of time looking through the binoculars at the climbs, and there is a LOT of water running behind and through the ice. Even climbs like Standard, have large holes with pouring water. Of course there are some things like Machine & Coffin that are building well & will possibly come in this year. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
3) The top outs overall are very poor. You can see it in the picture like Dropline, Dracula and Penguin. Just wandering around in the woods, I can tell that the ground isn't fully frozen. So if you do climb anything, please do not count on those turf-shots to get you over the top.
4) Be sure to place solid gear whenever and wherever you can. You cannot count on the quality of the ice right now. This is not the time to run things out on "hero ice".
Be safe folks...
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20201231/CathedralLedge.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20201231/Frankenstein.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20201231/LHMonkeyWrench.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20201231/MtWebster.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20201231/MtWillard_UpperTier.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20201231/MtWillard.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20201231/Shoestring.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20201231/Unicorn.jpg
As always the full set of pictures are on Facebook and NEClimbs.
Someone told me the other day I should CHILL about all this. It's hard to chill when I see people I know getting sick, and some dying. Altho NH is better off than Massachusetts or California, the rates of infection are rising. Couple that with the increasing influx of tourists and our small hospital facilities, and it is a cause for worry. Not to mention that in spite of being in very good health, at 73 I do have concerns so think I'll chill after I get my second vaccine shot!
US:
Confirmed Cases: 19,346,790
Total Deaths: 335,789
New Hampshire:
6 new deaths
594 new cases
COVID-19 deaths total 741
Active cases 5,762
306 patients currently hospitalized.
The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 tracking map:
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/us-map
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.
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/covid-19-daily-video
WEAR A MASK, SANITIZE AND STAY PHYSICALLY DISTANT FRIENDS!
REMEMBER - WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
I've walked every morning and ridden the bike every day for the past 7 days. There is minimal snow on the trails, so it's pretty much like riding in late fall or very early spring. This afternoon I rode on the East Side: Sticks & Stones, The Knot, up the Peaked hiking trail, across Sidehill and down EKG. It was all great riding on my 27.5+ bike with no studded tires. I'll take this as long as I possibly can.
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:
http://www.neclimbs.com/mobile
Check it out and if you have issues on your specific phone, please feel free to let me know.
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:
http://www.facebook.com/NEClimbs/
Remember - climb hard, ride the steep stuff, stay safe and above all BE NICE,
Al Hospers
The White Mountain Report
North Conway, New Hampshire
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