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OK OK OK - I stand a bit corrected. After the meltdown we went through and in spite of the longer days and the stronger March sun - some the ice in some places has kind-of come back. In fact to the extent conditions looks a bit like they often do in the very early season.
No folks, not here in the Valley. But when I was up in Crawford Notch on Wednesday morning I was completely blown away to see that Dropline and Machine have ice in places that there was NO ice 5 daze ago! Amazingly enough Gully #1 and Great Madness in the numbered gullies on the left side of Mt Willard appear to have ice top to bottom. Now does that mean that these climbs are IN? [HA] I sincerely doubt it. It reminds me of last year, how the Amphitheater was OUT literally all season. And then, for a SINGLE DAY near the end of the season, things formed up and I think it was Cheyenne that grabbed Pegasus! Or 2 years ago Welcome to the Machine came in, literally for 12 hours, and Keith Sidle guided it. But that's what ice is - ephemeral. And you simply never EXACTLY know how things will be, you can only make an educated guess and GO THERE...
Here's a picture I took Wednesday morning (3/25) of someone climbing the flow just right of Upper Hitchcock in the sun on a beautiful 35 degree day.
NOTE Apparently the DOT has stopped plowing any of the lots in Crawford Notch other than some of the main hiking lots. That includes the lower Arethusa lot, the pullout below Dracula, Ripley Falls where you park for Shoestring, and the Willies pullouts. Go figure...
Ice Conditions Report:
Selected Ice Conditions effective March 26, 2026
It's hard to tell what's actually climbable out there and what's not right now. Honestly, it's the time of year when things are just constantly changing. For the most part you'll just have to get a very early start, go somewhere & hope for the best. Sure some climbs will be more likely hanging around a bit longer, but it's questionable. And YES, today's pictures are from Wednesday because the predictions were for chance of rain or light snow on Thursday. And of course it's not doing either...why am I not surprised?
Huntington Ravine
numerous options
Repentance
OUT
Standard Route
possible
Dracula
still in
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
MT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY VALLEY WEATHER:
A warm front that lifted through early this morning will lead to rain off and on Thursday before a cold front pushes through Thursday night. High pressure then builds in on Friday.
Temperatures will rise well above freezing Thursday, allowing for precipitation to fall solely as rain through the day in the wake of a warm front. A lull in precipitation will likely occur midday into late afternoon as the warm front moves further northwards and ahead of the approaching cold front, becoming more showery in nature at all elevations. Winds will increase, with peak gusts likely coming in around 30 mph mid-day. Steady precipitation will return over late Thursday afternoon with the passage of the low, with the cold front passing through in the evening transitioning rain to scattered snow showers. Any accumulations will be light, with showers tapering off by Friday morning. Winds will pick back up behind the front heading into Friday morning as the pressure gradient tightens between incoming surface high pressure and the exiting low, with gusts up to 30 mph. Temperatures will struggle to rise under persistent cold air advection, hovering in the mid 30s for much of the day Friday. As the high builds, dry air mixing down will begin to allow for partial clearing of skies above, and winds will trend down through the day, becoming light and variable overnight Friday under partly cloudy skies. Temperatures will fall back well below freezing overnight, dropping down to the mid teens.
MW AVALANCHE CENTER: MODERATE
Your chances for triggering a wet snow avalanche will increase as temperatures rise above freezing and rain begins to saturate the snow. Look for rain, wetting mushy snow, and roller balls for signs of increasing avalanche hazard. Steer clear of steep slopes with wet snow to reduce your chances of getting caught.
MUSICAL NOTES:
The Trio with Jarrod Taylor, Tim Gilmore and me will be at Big Day in Gorham on the 28th from 5-8. We'll be doing whatever, so swing by. My understanding is that it's the last music up there till May.
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:
Since it was such a beautiful day on Wednesday I had hoped to ride here in the Valley. However for the most part the grooming is done so that wasn't going to happen. So I took a ride up to Bartlett to check on Rogers Crossing, which was unrideable. Sawyer River Road and Mt Clinton Road were in the same shape [sigh]. I was going to give up but on the way home after taking pictures I decided to check out Bear Notch and amazingly it looked to have been had been groomed that morning or the previous evening. So I pulled out the bike and rode it up and down. There were only a few soft spots and one place where the pavement showed through. Overall it was one of the nicest rides I've had this winter: bluebird sky, 54 minutes car to car, 8.45 miles, ~1,100' of elevation gained - SO SWEET! I saw a single female runner, 2 cross country skiers, a couple walking with their dog, 2 snowmobiles and a musher. It was a truly glorious morning.
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.
