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GO PATS!!!! Starting tomorrow, Thursday, the 2026 ICE FEST WEEKEND is upon us, and that's the main reason for this early Report. Kudos to Paul, Lisa, Rick, Brady and the whole IME/IMCS crew for keeping the stoke alive. Three days of warmish daytime temps, but no rain (!), should really help. And based on the ice conditions I've seen so far, this could be one of the best.
I'm sure you all know that temps are headed way down starting on Thursday. While it's almost assuredly not going to be as cold as it was 3 years ago at Ice Fest, -20/30, but it's gong to be C.O.L.D. But of course you folks all know what to do to stay warm. I will remind you of the trick George Hurley taught me probably 30 years ago about putting a hand warmer on the inside of your wrist over the blood vessels. It really does make a big difference. It's been a while since I've had the screaming barfies...
FROM the NEClimbs FB PAGE:
HEADS UP - I drove into the North End of Cathedral in the Outback this morning at around 7:30 just to see if I could. Well yes I COULD, and did, but it was quite tricky and NOT recommended. There were a couple of places around the middle where I was very worried that the car would go off the deeply rutted road and I had to keep up a good head of steam to keep moving! Turning around at the gate required a 7 point turnaround as I had to be VERY careful not to get off the packed portion of the road. In spite of the fact that someone had obviously done it, I was not willing to use the normal turnaround as there was a lot of snow in there. I'm not sure that you would want to pull off to the side down there to park! PLUS, I got very nervous on the way out that someone would be coming from the other direction as I was NOT able to pull over anywhere! If you try it be sure you have a shovel with you. You never know when you might need it. [wry grin]
NOTE - Someone got stuck on Tuesday afternoon! Not certain but I heard it was a tourist.
Ice Conditions Report:
Selected Ice Conditions effective February 4, 2026
Every picture tells a story... There's lots of ice out there and there will be lots of climbers out there this weekend as well. Enjoy...
Huntington Ravine
numerous options
Repentance
been done
Standard Route
GOOD
Dracula
IN & fat
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
MT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY VALLEY WEATHER:
ALERT: ...COLD WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST FRIDAY...
A weak upper-level low will move directly overhead Wednesday morning, then exit offshore in the afternoon. Narrow ridging builds in briefly on Wednesday night, before an upper-level trough approaches Thursday morning. Mid-level ridging will then build in Thursday evening.
Snow showers continue over the Whites this morning as the center of an upper-level low passes overhead. Winds will slowly increase through the day as the low makes its exit offshore into the afternoon, gusting up to 20mph. Lingering instability in the wake of the low and sufficient low-level moisture will allow for isolated snow showers to continue into early afternoon. Mid-level ridging begins to build in from the northwest towards the evening, resulting in mostly clear skies through around midnight. Winds will decrease as the ridge moves overhead, becoming light and variable early. An upper-level trough approaches early Thursday morning, bringing increasing clouds and a slight chance for snow showers early. A mid-level ridge builds in quickly late morning on Thursday in the wake of the shortwave, mixing in very dry air down, resulting in mostly sunny skies for the majority of the day. Clear conditions will continue into Thursday night initially, with skies becoming partly cloudy overnight as a strong cold front approaches from the Great Lakes region.
MW AVALANCHE CENTER:
LOW - While triggering an avalanche is unlikely, LOW avalanche danger does not mean no avalanche danger. If you encounter smooth older snow surfaces that feel or sound hollow, dig down to investigate the snowpack. If snow begins to accumulate, look for thin, small wind drifts as new areas of potentially unstable snow; this will appear smooth, bright white, and softer than the surrounding hard snow. Traveling on firm, textured, and wind-hardened snow surfaces will limit your exposure to potential avalanches today.
MUSICAL NOTES
The band and I are off this weekend, which is not the worst thing considering how busy things are. Next week I have 2 gigs coming up. On Wednesday Feb 11 my funky/jazzy trio will be playing a benefit for the MW Avalanche Center up at Big Day Brewing in Gorham. If you haven't been there, it's a great venue with excellent beer and food. We start at 6:30. Then on Thursday Jarrod and I will be at the grand opening of the new Hotel Indigo in North Conway. Whatever your opinion of if it should be there or not, make no mistake it is a gorgeous place. We will be there from 3:30 till 6.
If you are at all interested in what else is coming up with me musically, you can always see my schedule here: http://www.alhospers.com/?PageName=2
VALLEY CYCLING:
The grooming on valley trails is a mixed bag, at least partly because of the warmer temps early this week. I understood that Rogers Crossing had been mostly groomed so I went there late morning on Monday. Tho it was clear that it had been groomed, it was too soft for me to ride with my 27.5+ bike. I tried entrances to several trails but I was digging in too much. Then I went over to Marshall and rode many of the trails, all of which were in excellent shape. I had a busy day on Tuesday so I decided to just ride here in the hood. I've noticed a lot of folks hiking the Echo Lake and assorted trails so I figured they would be pretty well packed out. In spite of how long it's been since the last snow, things were not great. The trails were very narrow and generally funky. After the previous storm I was able to ride on the lake even with 6" of snow. This time there was a lot more snow and it was unrideable. Too bad...
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.
