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August 4, 2022
Hi Folks,
Just gotta say that it's interesting to write while imbibing a blueberry, banana, orange juice daiquiri! It hit 96 in town this afternoon and when I got home from riding at Cranmore, I decided I owed it to myself to use up some of my cheap Tequila and enjoy the afternoon while putting out this week's full Report. HA...
We've had multiple weather alerts, and right now at 9pm, the predicted front is coming through. Winds are howling, it's pouring rain and lightening and thunder abound! It's quite something... I wasn't sure it was actually going to happen, so I did go out this morning and water the garden. I've got tomatoes ripening on the vine and green beans coming very quickly after the woodchuck rampage. Well so as long as it doesn't get entirely TOO crazy, this could be a good thing.
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220804/tomato.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220804/beans.jpg
There was a death on Mt Washington the other day. I haven't seen any more details, but this was in the paper. Check out the description of the conditions!
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220804/MtWashington.jpg
A bunch of folks have asked why I haven't really been out climbing much this summer. Well, there actually are a couple of reasons...
It's a drag but my favorite two partners have been unavailable this summer. Matt Bowman is out west guiding alpine climbs and Brad has been nursing an injury. I've made an effort to cultivate a couple of other partners, but nothing has actually worked out. Go figure...
I have 4 main activities in my life - climb, ride my mountain bike, go to the gym and play music. I have some arthritis in both hands so at 74 my hands can mostly manage 3 of the 4 on a regular basis. Since my partners are limited right now, I have chosen to ride, which I can easily to by myself, and play music, which I've done for 56 years and can't imagine not doing! Believe me, I love climbing. It's just on the side burner right now. In ice season I can get out and do a lot by myself, so I'm just waiting for that. PLUS at times I can combine riding my fat tire bike to an ice climb like Standard at Frankenstein, bringing in the best of both worlds.
I've been seeing a specialist every couple of years, for the past 15 years who specializes in treating musicians. This is Dr Michael Charness, a neurologist at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston who runs the Performing Artists Clinic. He is also a very accomplished pianist and diagnostician. This is the guy who treats the players in the Pops, Boston Symphony, New England Conservatory and others. He helped me deal with some acute tendonitis 8 years ago and I'm going down to see him on Saturday.
And speaking of the gym... I've been doing a lot of upper body work and squats lately. Both of which have had a positive impact on the little climbing I'm doing. I went up to the Little cliff at the top of Cathedral (The Wall Of The Hurley Morning Light) and threw a rope down there on Monday. It was a hot and muggy 90 degree day and I sure sweated a lot, but I easily ran through all the climbs there. Normally I would rope-solo them all, but since someone stole the hangers [ARRGH] I just TR soloed them. While I do solo ice, I don't usually solo rock. Go figure... The cool thing was that it was clear that the squat work really paid off! All my stand-up muscles were in great shape, which makes me feel that it's going to be a great ice season! LOL Here's a few pix:
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220804/climb_1.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220804/climb_2.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220804/climb_3.jpg
I will be playing every Wednesday this month at Rosa Flamingos in Bethlehem from 5:30-8:30 and on the boardwalk at Weirs beach from 6-9. Both are FREE! And then on August 21st I'll be at the New Hampshire Jazz Festival with the Robert Ames Quintet and the Mike Levine Latin Quartet. This will be a great evening featuring all the best regional jazz musicians in a fantastic venue. If you like this type of music, don't miss it.
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220804/NHJazzFestival.jpg
Here's a pic from last Sunday's Weirs gig. It was a beautiful evening.
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220804/Weirs.jpg
But the No-See-Ems... DAMN
The American Alpine Club is teaming up with CAMP Technical Adventure Equipment for the biggest gathering of NE climbers: the Rumney Craggin' Classic this September 16-18!
This 3-day grassroots festival features clinics led by professional climbers and local guides on topics ranging from intro to climbing outside, self-rescue, anchor building, and more. Get ready to dance to live music, get inspired, eat delicious local food, sip beverages, snag wicked good deals on gear, and make your corner of the Earth a little better by participating in a crag stewardship project! What makes these events truly exceptional is the community of passionate and friendly folks who show up to celebrate our shared vertical pursuits. So, whether you're new to clipping bolts or have been projecting routes for decades, we want to welcome you to the Rumney Craggin' Classic!
I think that this article is quite interesting - Better Data Needed To Defeat Misinformation - Two experts from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center (CRC) say the scientific community needs to urgently reform how public health data and preliminary research findings are communicated during future global crises to avoid mistakes committed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/pandemic-data-initiative/data-outlook/better-data-needed-to-defeat-misinformation
New Hampshire:
? New death(s) reported over past 3 days
1,935 Active cases
88 Current hospitalizations being treated for COVID
2,633 Total deaths due to COVID-19
United States:
Confirmed: 91,952,578
Deaths: 1,032,751 (up over 3,000!!!)
Global:
Confirmed: 581,292,896
Deaths: 6,411,609
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
Riding has been HOT! I decided to get out this afternoon with my buddy Phil O, mainly 'cause I wanted to ride and I figured the downhill wouldn't be that bad. Well ging up the lift and riding the DH wasn't actually bad at all, but we decided to go ride across to Tornado and that was brutal! Oh well, maybe I lost a pound or two. [yeah right] Especially not considering that I still like that post-ride beer and cookie!
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220804/Cranmore.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220804/Tornado.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220804/big_guy.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20220804/PostRide.jpg
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
| The rules of the game must be constantly updated to keep up with the expanding technology. Otherwise we overkill the classic climbs and delude ourselves into thinking we are better climbers than the pioneers. |
| Yvon Chouinard |
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