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Last weekend was both a big storm and our first Ice Fest in 2 years! WOO WOO... And what a fun time it was. The storm started Thursday and pretty much stopped Friday morning. Leaving us with a mess, but a fun mess regardless. There were tons of participants, lots of great guides and a number of great manufacturers and reps. There were people I hadn't seen in a couple of years, and a bunch of folks that instantly became new friends. It doesn't get much better.
Friday was a bit of a mess due to the remnants of the storm. The roads were generally horrible, several of the parking areas like the Davis Path and the lower lot at Arethusa weren't plowed and of course most of the trails weren't packed out when we all started out. But my group, with fellow guide Chris Magness, got to Frankenstein safely and after breaking trail and slogging our way over to Cave Route, spent the day exploring the fun of climbing steep ice.
I don't guide 2 days in a row any more so I was off on Saturday, but on Sunday was with guide Craig Taylor and a group from New England College Outing Club at the North End. We were the 2nd group there, but not the last by far. At one point there were more than 30 people and 6-7 ropes set up on the North End pillars! It was crazy, but everyone was respectful so it all worked out.
I took Monday and Tuesday off and got out on a gorgeous Wednesday morning with Matty Bowman to do Super Goofer. I've climbed it a couple of times over the years, leading it once. All were in skinnier conditions where there were placement for rock gear. This time the pillar was fatter, obscuring the rock, but was very technical and hard to protect. It was similar to Hobbit, but steeper, fatter and taller. Matty did a great job and we both thought it was pretty solid Grade 5. Great fun!
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
WILLOUGHBY:
For those of you who climb at the Lake, here is a comment from Alden Pellett. Alden lived in the immediate area and knows what's up with the DOT. It bears a striking resemblance to what I've been saying about Black Pudding and Shoestring - HMMM...
SOME LOCAL/NATIONAL PANDEMIC THOUGHTS:
It doesn't seem to matter how many people die or get very sick from this disease, there are those who refuse to get vaccinated, wear a mask, or socially distance even when appropriate. It's hard for me to grasp that many people would prefer to get their medical advice from comedian/jackass Joe Rogan than from the CDC or even their personal physician. But here are some quotes from Rogan himself that he said at his recent live stand-up show:
People are all about their personal rights, but not about responsibilities. neither to their families, close friends or to society as a whole. It goes against everything I was brought up about, but hey...I'm a boomer! I get that but while the omicron wave is easing its grip, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. are falling in 49 of the 50 states. This is in spite of the nation's death toll closing in on a tragic 900,000. Deaths have been running at an average of more than 2,400 a day, back up to where they were last winter, when the vaccine drive was still getting started. However new cases per day have tanked by almost a half-million nationwide since mid-January, the curve trending downward in every state but Maine! Hmmm...
Just to clarify - The number of deaths below in NH are for Thursday! Thus on today there have been 4 deaths, but there were 14 on Monday and another 14 on Tuesday! Just so you get the picture.
New Hampshire:
4 New deaths reported
1,150 New cases reported
9,204 Active cases
175 Current hospitalizations for COVID
2,288 Total deaths due to COVID-19
United States:
Confirmed: 77,405,756
Deaths: 914,968
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:
The trails at the Marshall and elsewhere were fantastic a week ago, but then the s$%t hit the fan. But the trails have been groomed again and are in fairly decent conditions. As long as it's cold at night, morning riding should be good to go.
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
Real Programmers don't play tennis, or any sport that requires you to change clothes. Mountain climbing is OK, and real programmers always wear their climbing boots to work in case a mountain should suddenly spring up in the middle of a machine room.
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.
