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Sheesh, it's 11/11 today. I'm no numerologist, but I think it's cool nonetheless. And of course it's interesting that it's almost Thanksgiving and there's no snow or ice out there yet. [HA] Its a great time to climb rock and ride the bike tho... Don't miss it!
The weather this week was spectacular. Multiple days of bluebird skies and 60 degree temps, clearly the Indian Summer we've all heard about. Perfect for anything, that's for sure. On FB I had seen Jamie Cunningham post something about the Russell Crag area at Waterville Valley. It looked interesting so Brad and I decided to check it out on Tuesday. It's located on Tripoli Road, basically right off the exit on Interstate 93. You park on the left just before the gate and the trail is right there. We decided to check out the Forest Garden area, a cool slab with 5 nice well protected bolted lines ranging from a single 5.5 on the far left and 4 5.7's to its right. I'd say they are closer to 6's than 7's, but nice nonetheless. Brad and I both led each climb and they were well worth the drive.
Another party of 2 walked up just after we got there, Dave and Marty, but there is plenty of room for 2 groups, so it was no problem. Brad and I both enjoyed the climbing and plan to go back to sample the other areas soon.
ICE FEST 2022:
Yup, unless there is some serious issue, the Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest is happening this year. One VERY IMPORTANT thing to be aware of is that all attendees are going to be required to provide proof of vaccination. Unlike some other events, no negative tests will be permitted. So, be sure to bring your card and picture ID, or you won't be able to participate.
The official date is February 4-6, 2022. Stay tuned for website and registration updates, guest guide information, and party details. If you have any questions, you can call IMCS at (603) 356-7064.
FUNDRAISER REQUEST - 2021/2022:
Hey, you know the deal. Around this time every year I ask you all for money. I do hate to ask, but it kind of goes with the territory. As much as I enjoy getting out to take pics and write all this stuff, it does suck up a lot of time and energy. That's why I have the annual fundraiser and believe me, your support is VERY appreciated. I know that everyone getting the weekly emailing or reading it on NEClimbs.com, Facebook or seeing the video Report on Instagram likes having the latest skinny every week. So please take a minute and make a contribution. Any amount is welcome, even the $1.08 that someone sent last winter - GO FIGURE! So please take a minute to help support NEClimbs and The White Mountain Report. It's easy, just go ON LINE and make your donation via PayPal. You don't even need a PayPal account, you can use almost any credit card. Just click the link below:
Of course you can also contribute via check or money order if you like. Make it out to NEClimbs and send it here:
NEClimbs
92 Bow Lane
North Conway, NH 03860
The expenses of the running and maintaining NEClimbs.com and putting out The White Mountain Report continue all year. PLEASE REMEMBER, it's your contribution that makes this newsletter and the NEClimbs web site viable.
BTW You can see almost all of the Reports on NEClimbs.com archived from as far back as September of 1999! To get a sense of the popularity of the site, current traffic as of November 3, 2021 on NEClimbs.com is about 2840 UNIQUE visits a day, generating over 1.5 million monthly "HITS". The White Mountain Report newsletter goes out to over 1,210 subscribers weekly!
JOHN PORTER TALK DEC 2nd:
John will be doing a talk for the AMC/HMC on the evening of the 2nd Dec. at the Yenching Auditorium, 2 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge MA. At 7:30 pm. This will be an illustrated talk from his early days in the New Hampshire and Maine where he learned to climb, to Everest, K2 and Annapurna. As a teenager, John met and climbed with legends such as Ken Henderson, Miriam Underhill, Bill Putnam, Adams Carter and Hugo Stadtmuller. From the mid 70’s, with partners such as Kurtyka (Poland), Ghilini (France) and Alex MacIntyre (UK), he made pioneering light weight ascents including a winter traverse of the Tatra (1976), NE Face of as Bandaka (1977), the S. Buttress of Changabang (1978), S. Face Ranrapulka (1979), S.E Ridge Tarke Kang (1982). He joined friends to attempt the West Ridge Direct on Everest in winter (1980/81) without oxygen or Sherpa support and the NW Ridge of K2 during the tragic year of 1986. In more recent years, there were further climbs in Garhwal (Kedar Dome), Karakorum (Chong Kundam 1 and 5), Africa (Diamond Couloir), Tibet (Sepu Kangri) and Greenland.
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
SOME LOCAL/NATIONAL PANDEMIC THOUGHTS:
This week the NH Executive Council reversed their position and decided to accept the $20 million plus federal money to help with vaccination. Good news, since the numbers are really going up right now. The Governor released this statement on Monday after the NH DHHS reported 205 cases on Saturday:
“The situation here in New Hampshire remains very serious, the data shows that community transmission is increasing, and we expect cases to rise,” said Governor Chris Sununu. “We must all remain vigilant in our daily lives. As we enter these winter months, it will be more important than ever to wear your mask, practice social distancing, and maintain proper hand hygiene.”
In a televised press event I saw on WMUR this morning Sununu stated that the numbers this winter may possibly exceed that of last winter! This is not good news...
New Hampshire:
4 new deaths reported
801 new cases reported
5,455 Active cases
244 patients are currently hospitalized
1,617 total deaths
United States:
Confirmed: 46,792,138
Deaths: 759,062
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.
OUR ONLY WAY OUT IS IF YOU GET VACCINATED, WHERE RECOMMENDED PLEASE STILL WEAR A MASK, WASH YOUR HANDS!
REMEMBER - WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
VALLEY CYCLING:
I did a short ride on Sunday in preparation for a bigger ride on Monday. Every year my buddy Phil and I ride around town on what is known as the "Bike For Books" loop. It's a bit over 22 miles and is all in the woods except for about 2 miles here & there.
Then today after I took my pictures I decided to ride up Hurricane Mt Road, since it is now closed, and do the Hurricane downhill trail. It was great fun and in surprisingly good shape for the very end of the season.
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.
