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So needless to say there's been a lot of snow in my yard. Well, everywhere if truth be told. It's gotten so annoying that I've taken to spreading the snow out so it melts faster. Once it gets less than a couple of inches thick it melts like crazy. I estimate that by the weekend or maybe sooner it will all be gone. Unfortunately that is totally not the case for the base of Whitehorse! While there is always lots of snow below the cliff in a normal. or even moderate year, this year is certainly different.
I was supposed to meet a friend over at the Ethereal Buttress on Wednesday afternoon so I parked at the Hotel lot & walked into the woods. I knew there would be snow but I was unprepared for just how much there was. When I say unprepared, I mean both that I should have worn high-top shoes and I was surprised at just how much snow was still piled up. You can easily walk all the way up to the Launching Pad on the snow!
Not only that but there is a lot of crap on the slabs right now. Apparently the twigs and leaves that were embedded in the snow are just sitting there and until we get some rain they are likely to stay there too.
Speaking of rain, it's been weeks since we have had any precipitation more than a mere dribble and the woods are very dry, in spite of the snow-melt. While I guess we are not in as bad a state as the Southern part of the state, if we don't get some rain soon we will be. If you are camping or smoking in the woods please be careful of your flame. It wouldn't take much to set off a brush fire that could be a big problem.
I walked along the base of the cliff past Echo Roof and all the way down to the Ethereal Buttress looking for my friends. They were nowhere to be found (grrrr), but the rock was generally dry, except for the right side of the Echo Roof area. There was a party on Ethereal & it looked totally dry. Walking further down the cliff much was clean and dry and there was chalk on many of the climbs . I heard some voices toward the Gargoyle Buttress. Ray Rice and Pete O were working on Brad White's old climb Economy Of Force (5.12). It looked like quite a pump...
On the walk out past the hotel I looked back at the right side of the cliff and noticed that pretty much everything was clear of ice & snow above the slabs. Now if the snow at the base would just melt & we'd get some rain to clean off the cliff!
I was over at Humphrey's a day before and everything there was in good shape as well. There wasn't hardly any snow even on the hike to the climbs on the left.
All in all things are looking very good for early season climbing. There are mosquitoes out and some ticks, but it's not too bad. Heck, we had a great ice season, maybe we'll have a great rock season as well.
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
Slideshow: Vertical Ethiopia - Climbing Toward Possibility in the Horn of Africa
by climber, writer Majka Burhardt (www.majkaburhardt.com)
Vertical Ethiopia documents a climbing expedition to unexplored sandstone spires in northern Ethiopia. In March 2007, four women traveled to Ethiopia to discover if climbing might be the next frontier for this continuously evolving country. Told through a series of vignettes that reveal what it means to climb, to travel, and to explore, Vertical Ethiopia looks closely at the intersections between adventure and culture, history and opportunity.
May 7th, 7pm
Cabot Auditorium, AMC Headquarters, 5 Joy Street, Boston MA $5
AMC Boston Chapter, Mountaineering Committee In conjunction with WorldBoston (www.worldboston.org) and The Access Fund
For directions: www.outdoors.org/about/facilities/facilities-boston-directions.cfm
For more information: www.bostonclimbers.org
Kismet Rock Foundation Jubilee - May 17th:
Jubilee is THE annual event for Kismet Rock Foundation! All are invited
to join in this festive springtime occasion which includes dinner, live
music, dancing, a very popular silent auction, and student presentations.
It's held this year at the Cranmore Mountain Resort in North Conway, NH.
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.
