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[fresh]

Too early? But if there is Ice and it is climbed? I'm confused. I always thought this was a site to promote climbing.

Al was saying last year that ice in Huntington Ravine was out in March, and it continued to be climbed in April. Two years ago he called a couple climbers crazy for climbing Shoestring in thin conditions. Living three hours south I always appreciated his ice reports, but they're very much on the conservative side. Although the report may sometimes tell us it's not worth the drive, we should all draw our own conclusions about conditions.

Reggie

[Mike G]

Thumbs up Reg. Two years ago the crazy climbers on shoestring was myself and a couple of friends. On the return to the car we saw Al  and told him we climbed GOOD ice from bottom to top. By the time I got home he posted on this site it did not look good from the road . I would hate for people to miss out on such a cool time because of this type of assessment. I think conservative is better had at the bottom of the climb, not the road or 3 hrs away. The approach, even if being turned away is better than spending the day with ones thumb in the vent. I'm just sayin. 

[ELM]

Too early? But if there is Ice and it is climbed? I'm confused. I always thought this was a site to promote climbing.

Al was saying last year that ice in Huntington Ravine was out in March, and it continued to be climbed in April. Two years ago he called a couple climbers crazy for climbing Shoestring in thin conditions. Living three hours south I always appreciated his ice reports, but they're very much on the conservative side. Although the report may sometimes tell us it's not worth the drive, we should all draw our own conclusions about conditions.

Reggie

I really think being conservative about ice conditions is not a bad thing. That said...you do realize this is not Al's job to be a forecaster...Right??? Call around if you question his forecast. This site is not a hobby for him but a labor of love we get to share in; we're lucky he get's stuff updated as fast as he does.
Thumbs up for Al!

[Jeff]

Fer cryin' out loud-- if Al says it's good and someone goes up and finds sh#*ty conditions, he whines--if he says it doesn't look too good from the road, thus saving the same someone a walk for (perhaps) nothing and that someone later finds out someone else "stole a day", he whines.    So turn off the computer, look at the weather forecasts and the avy report, drive to the trail head and do it old style--go take a look and decide to climb or not on your own.  At least you'll only have one person to blame!

[David_G48]

+1 for Jeff's post. Deciding about whether or not the ice is in is an individual decision.
Al provides a service that gives us his opinion of the general conditions at the expense of his time, as pointed out in ELM's post.
If you want the most accurate report for you get out and go to the climbs yourself. There never will be a condition report that will keep every climber happy , just part of life.

[Admin Al]

you're right in that I do make my ratings on the conservative side. sometimes I say things are good and they aren't, a bit more often I say they are mediocre, and some folks say they are good. you can't please everyone... last year some folks told me that Hitchcock was IN and good. I went up there and there was no ice all the way to the upper pitch. I have pictures to prove it. some other folks told me that I was all messed up early in the season when I was saying things weren't IN. I went out and looked and there really wasn't anything that I would feel good guiding on. go figure... a few years ago I said Gully 2 1/2 was IN after I soloed it on a Friday. someone went up there and tried it Saturday morning and gave me all kinds of crap because they thought it was desperate. what can you say? I look at pictures that Alfonso posts of the stuff he and his buddies do and I would never say that is remotely IN. for instance Yale 2 weeks ago on blobs of ice. sheesh, that's not IN! the Ice Report is of course just one man's assessment. I get out climbing a couple of times a week in the winter, usually on Tuesday and of course I also make sure that I go out on Thursday to check on the current state of things. I don't get everywhere, but I ask around and make judgement calls. fairly often I'm right, but sometimes I'm wrong. hey - if you want to make the drive from Boston or RI just to see, by all means do so.

[wry grin]

[Admin Al]

one (or two) other quick comment(s)...

I do the ice report for the 'average" climber (if there is such an animal) I try and base it on what are the consensus grades for the various climbs. since I've climbed almost everything in the area, many more than once, I have a pretty good idea of what is IN/OUT at any particular time. am I always right, hardly; am I sometimes wrong, absolutely. I'm not a great climber, I'm a bit on the upper side of good, so I feel like I do have that perspective.

and if nothing else, I've been putting out the report for close to 15 years now and I "should be" fairly consistent. I try not to do predictions, just talk about what I see on my Thursday romp. you can count on the fact that when I go up into Huntington in late March and find that things are getting pretty baked and there are open holes in Pinnacle, I'm going to call it OUT. are there going to be folks climbing ice up there in April or later, absolutely. that's just the way it is...

look, I'm sure you will find heavyweight folks out there that don't agree with me. just ask around about the disagreement that I had with one of the local guides regarding my call on the early season last year. there's at least one person who frequents these forums who knows about it. I'm sure they'll also tell you that I don't back down on my overall calls. [wry grin] I say what I think. you can (and SHOULD) just take that as another tool to use in making "your" personal decision about whether to climb or not. and make no mistake, climbing is a personal endeavor. when you get to the bottom of that ice pillar/curtain/slab, you are the one who's going to climb it - not me. the report is just one thing you can use to make a personal decision to start up. hopefully it's a helpful one...

and of course there is always this forum where YOU can post YOUR opinion....

remember:

"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."

[triguy]

FWIW, I have been using Al's report to plan several trips from Maryland per year for at least the past five years. Never have i shown up and been disappointed in the conditions or found them dramatically different that what was in the ice report.

Keep up the good work Al!

Scott

[tradmanclimbz]

I have always had the feeling that Als version of IN takes 16cm screws while Alden Pellets version  of IN for WI5 is about the same as Alfonzo's version of In for WI3. My version of In for WI3 is about the same as Alfonzo's yet my version of In for WI5 is quite a bit fatter than Rockytop's (Alden) Your best bet is to closely follow the weather, make your own judgments and suplement those judgements by knowing where YOU fit in the Al Vs Al ice rateing scale....

You can get seriously FCKN killed playing this game so knowing what YOU can climb is critical. I often give myself a little reminder that I am NOT as hard as the guys who do the dike in October so just because they think something is IN does not automaticly mean that I will not get Killed trying to repete it... YMMV

[sparky]

Thanks for all the years of dedication providing a base line for all subscribers to gauge their own level of acceptable risk, Al. The Ice Report is an awesome tool to have when considering a day out in the mountains winter climbing. Your efforts are appreciated.

Honestly, I think the subtle (sometimes less than) comments I've seen over the last 2-3 years about "you don't know until you go" "you can't tell from the road" and blaming Al for saying something wasn't in, then come to find out, it was freaking stellar blue ice all the way to the top or it was a scratch fest up a climb he said was in and it clearly wasn't. Well those comments are a little immature, my opinion, like it or not. I think the crew that I see leaving these comments need to move on. Hey, maybe even start your own climbing report!

Climbing is a personal endeavor, completely agree Al, and a lot of you other climbers might not have climbed Central gully in the conditions we found this past Saturday, or you would have and just not have roped up and placed screws and rock gear like we did. Was it sketchy climbing? Yup, most definitely, but super fun! I pounded in a snarg (rock skis of of ice climbing) at the first belay, along with a ti russian screw and a tool, we had an anchor. We pitched Central out in two short, and three long pitches and placed rock gear, nuts and a couple cams, BD stubbies and ti-russians all the way up, had a few three point sitting belays...it was a great mountaineering adventure! I had a blast, and since it was my first ice climb in over a year, it felt great managing rope, clipping and placing pro. We made pretty good time despite placing all the gear and pitching it out, as other parties were finishing their respective climbs around the same time and we all walked near along the Alpine Garden.

How many of you have pounded in a snarg in the last 10 years? ha, ha, you're missing out!

Steve (Sparky)

[neiceclimber]

I'd say you're a bit of a fool if you only rely on one mans report in deciding on what to do for the day.

No one ever complains when he's off on the bug report.

[JBrochu]

I'd say you're a bit of a fool if you only rely on one mans report in deciding on what to do for the day.

No one ever complains when he's off on the bug report.

I actually remember a climber partner complaining about Al's bug report one day when we were getting chowed on by black flies!

[xcrag_corex]

Snargs....ughhhhhh

[Admin Al]

I actually remember a climber partner complaining about Al's bug report one day when we were getting chowed on by black flies!

LOL...

[lucky luke]

one (or two) other quick comment(s)...

I do the ice report for the 'average" climber (if there is such an animal) I try and base it on what are the consensus grades for the various climbs. since I've climbed almost everything in the area, many more than once, I have a pretty good idea of what is IN/OUT at any particular time. am I always right, hardly; am I sometimes wrong, absolutely. I'm not a great climber, I'm a bit on the upper side of good, so I feel like I do have that perspective.

and if nothing else, I've been putting out the report for close to 15 years now and I "should be" fairly consistent. I try not to do predictions, just talk about what I see on my Thursday romp. you can count on the fact that when I go up into Huntington in late March and find that things are getting pretty baked and there are open holes in Pinnacle, I'm going to call it OUT. are there going to be folks climbing ice up there in April or later, absolutely. that's just the way it is...

look, I'm sure you will find heavyweight folks out there that don't agree with me. just ask around about the disagreement that I had with one of the local guides regarding my call on the early season last year. there's at least one person who frequents these forums who knows about it. I'm sure they'll also tell you that I don't back down on my overall calls. [wry grin] I say what I think. you can (and SHOULD) just take that as another tool to use in making "your" personal decision about whether to climb or not. and make no mistake, climbing is a personal endeavor. when you get to the bottom of that ice pillar/curtain/slab, you are the one who's going to climb it - not me. the report is just one thing you can use to make a personal decision to start up. hopefully it's a helpful one...

and of course there is always this forum where YOU can post YOUR opinion....

remember:

"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."

agree