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YEAH, I know I keep saying that Ice Season is over. But then I keep sending you these emails & posting these pictures. Strange, right? LOL... But really, it REALLY is 99% OVER. I'm just still out there taking pictures for my archives. It's surprising to me how long unclimbable ice still hangs on. I'd like to get a picture right after Dracula and Standard fall, just to clarify ICE OUT. Like what they do with Lake Winnipesaukee every year.
And as I do every year, I do have to point out that there is ice here & there directly above various climbing areas. Here are pix of the right side of Whitehorse to the right of Standard Route and Unicorn, directly above the North End crack climbs. FYI you can't see this stuff from the climbs themselves.
I was talking to Joe Lentini a few days ago and he mentioned that he had just done a presentation about the Shoulder Seasons hiking for Hiking Buddies. While you can't see it now, here's what it's about:
Hiking in Shoulder Season— what’s that?
The term encompasses the times of year between Winter & Spring, or between Fall & Winter. These micro-seasons come with unpredictable temperature drops, melting snow, dangerous & sneaky mud, high water crossings, and other volatile pressures that will and should affect your hike planning.
Needless to say the Shoulder Seasons are times when the conditions are extremely variable and it's easy to get caught off guard. I wish Joe's presentation were available. I don't have a lot to say about it other than to just pay attention and be prepared. I mean, today was glorious, but read the weather report below just to see what's coming...
Ice Conditions Report:
Selected Ice Conditions effective February 19, 2026
Just as you would expect following Ice Fest AND a week of truly balmy temps, going to be upper 30's today, the ice can be a mixed bag. I saw someone post about how things are terrible. But digging into it, I realized they were talking about places like the North End that are very well used. It probably gets the most use of all. There are only a few places that have really easy access to moderate climbing and where you can set up a bunch of top-ropes. So that's not unexpected. And of course the climbs that are getting a lot of full sun are getting somewhat punked-out. On my way back from Wolfeboro mid-afternoon a few days ago I took a look at Rainbow Slabs which look as if they are getting pretty funky. And I watched a hunk of the bottom of Way In The Wilderness fall down! IMO it's really the time to start paying attention to what you're walking underneath, any time of the day. Enjoy this weather, but keep paying attention...
Huntington Ravine
numerous options
Repentance
iffy
Standard Route
GREAT conditions
Dracula
IN & very fat
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
Here are some of the pictures from Thursday. For ALL of the pictures and latest Conditions Report go to the Ice Conditions page on NEClimbs.com.
VALLEY CYCLING:
There are very few, and honestly if any, places to ride in the woods right now. There are still stretches of trails with crappy snow plus if you try riding the muddy spots you're going to make a mess of the trail! So what to do, what to do? For me it's an easy call - the road bike on places where there is minimal traffic! Places I've mentioned before include Passaconaway Rd, Evans Notch, Cornshop Rd and others in Fryeburg and of course some of the rides in Brownfield. I gotta hope that some of the trails on the East Side where they get a lot of sun will be dry in a week or two. Stay tuned...
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.
