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June 16, 2022
Hi Folks,
Thankfully I've mostly recovered from my bout with Covid. 11 days into it and I would say that I'm about 95% back to normal. Still have a little less energy than usual, but not too bad. I've been out riding 4 times and felt reasonable and went climbing twice. My feeling is the Paxlovid antiviral made a big difference. If you get Covid I would highly recommend it.
WOO WOO I got out on rock twice this week. I went over to Humphreys with my friend Donna on Monday. She had never been there so I figured we could do a couple of the climbs on the little slabby area just right of Yellowjacket, at the start of the Geriatric Walls. There were a lot more caterpillars than I expected, all over the trails. When we got to the slab it was in pretty much full sun because all the leaves were off the trees. Just standing there getting geared up, we could hear the caterpillar poop coming down. I did the far right line, she did it on a TR and we bailed. It was just too disgusting. In addition the slab was surprisingly dirty. It felt as if no one had been there in quite a while!
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220616/Humphreys_1.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220616/Humphreys_2.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220616/Humphreys_3.jpg
My buddy Jeff Lea was up from Connecticut and wanted to climb on Tuesday. After the previous day's disaster I was somewhat skeptical, but we headed to Whitehorse. I'd heard the caterpillars were there too, but figured that after the first 40-50' we'd be above the trees so we should be OK. While that was true, getting there was the crux of the climbing! Just standing around was pretty yucky. The starting moves on Beginners not only had bugs, but also lots of tiny bits of leaves making the rock a lot less positive that usual. I often just run things out on this pitch, but this time I was happy to put in several pieces here & there. On top of that, I forgot my helmet! DAMN... I don't think I've climbed sans helmet more than a couple of times in the past 40+ years. I must say that it most certainly put a different focus on things. LOL
There were bugs in the pine tree at the Beginners belay, but after that it was smooth sailing up the next 2 pitches of Cormier-Magness. I'm not sure how many times I've climbed the route, but it's many many. It's become one of my go-to routes since it was put up. Great fun as always.
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220616/Whitehorse_1.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220616/Whitehorse_2.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220616/Whitehorse_3.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220616/Whitehorse_4.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220616/Whitehorse_5.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220616/Whitehorse_6.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220616/Whitehorse_7.jpg
This rebranded 2nd edition of Tough Schist is said to be the state's definitive guidebook, providing detailed information of VT's best climbing areas. It includes over 500 new routes developed or discovered since the publication of the first edition.
Over 1,000 routes and variations at 30 different crags—including 9 new and 7 significantly expanded areas
Action photos, full-cliff photo topos, belay topos, and contour approach maps
Graphs of grade and sport / trad distribution for each area
QR codes provide Google Map driving directions to every crag
624 full-color pages, 5.5" x 8.5", high-quality, 95 gsm gloss art paper
https://www.vermontrock.com/
I hadn't heard anything yet from Chris Martin about the list of closings for Peregrines this year, so I gave him a call. I participated in about 10 years of banding on the Painted Walls and Cathedral Ledge. The birds are incredible and well worth the relatively minimal time and inconvenience of protecting them. Here's a list of the primary areas that are currently restricted.
Rumney: Main Cliff
Cathedral Ledge: Repentance & Remission
Franconia Notch: The Eaglet Spire
Holt's Ledge: all is closed
Band M: The Steps area
Woodchuck: right side of cliff
Russell Craig: Main cliff
Frankenstein: none
Painted Walls: none
Whitehorse Ledge: none
Not really that many blackflies out there, but the caterpillars are totally make up for it. While my climbing with Jeff on C-M was tolerable, the caterpillar thing is simply out of control. They are all over the side of my house by the maple and oak trees, the road is covered with them and riding the bike in the woods can be pretty unpleasant in some areas. IMO overall Humphreys is awful, I heard that Thin Air is OK, as you would expect once you get off the ground, and most of the Whitehorse slabs are fine. Someone told me that for the most part they aren't at Rumney, go figure! I just think you will likely want to be pretty particular where you climb. I know I will... Here's a link where you can get a bunch of information about these caterpillars and moths.
https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/forest_health/
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220616/Caterpillars.jpg
I know at least 6 people right now that have Covid that they have gotten in the past 7 days. Some are probably people you might know who are pretty careful. This hasn't really gone away. But I can testify that if you are fully vaccinated, boosted and if you get one of the antivirals, you most likely won't end up in the hospital on a ventilator. Just sayin friends...
New Hampshire:
1 New death(s) reported
2,707 Active cases
107 Current hospitalizations with COVID
2,565 Total deaths due to COVID-19
United States:
Confirmed: 85,980,009
Deaths: 1,012,836
Global:
Confirmed: 537,601,288
Deaths: 6,315,651
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
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
The trails are in great shape here on the West side. the only drag are the caterpillars. You can be happily riding along on a single track and then have caterpillars hanging down all over the trail! It can be pretty darn disgusting.
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
| Why climb? For the natural experience; for the danger that draws us ever on; for the feeling of total freedom; for the monstrous drop beneath you. It is like a drug. |
| Hermann Buhl |
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