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December 10, 2015
Hi Folks,
OK, OK, OK, OK… I get it. Nobody is happy with the state of the climate right now. At least nobody who is into winter sports, like pretty much everyone I know who lives up here - and all you folks anxiously perusing this Report. And to be honest with you, tho I’m taking advantage of the state of our weather pattern as best I can, I’m not all that happy about it either. Just like you, I have my XC-skis, crampons, ice axes, screws and cold weather outerwear all ready to go. Shoot - I’ve even swapped out the lawn tractor and snowblower, to no avail. And that usually will do the trick! [sigh]
Well, as I have mentioned a number of times, all I can do is to take advantage of what’s given to me. And for now, that’s basically rock climbing and mountain biking. Last Saturday was so balmy that I went down to LongStack to climb with George Hurley. While the ground seemed crusty and a bit frozen in places in the shade, in the sun it was amazing. The crag is totally south facing so the sun was amazingly warm.
LongStack_02.jpg
George had his eye on a line in the middle of the Indigenous Wall. He’d been working it on top rope and wanted to try and lead it. While he did manage the lead, he didn’t get it clean. I gave it a shot on TR and thought it was really hard, probably in the 10c range, certainly above my pay-grade! Unfortunately, after talking about it with some locals, it turned out that the middle of the route crossed an existing line, so that one’s off the table. Pretty cool that he’s still making it happen at 80 tho.
LongStack_01.jpg
When I was rapping off I noticed a line just to the left that looked appealing. There was one other party at the cliff and I asked what they thought. They said it was called The Stroke, rated at 5.9, so I decided to give it a shot. The start that goes up to a nice ledge was easy enough. The next bit required a 12’ piece of fairly steep friction, with no gear. [hmmm] I decided to sling a small tree just in the hope that if I slipped off I “might” not go to the ground. It took me a few minutes to find the exact combination of nubbins and crimpers, and once I got it I happily clipped the bolt. The next moves to a horizontal about 12 feet higher were almost as hard, but if I fell off at least I wouldn’t go to the ground. Some more thin climbing continued up to the headwall. There was no gear under the headwall and you have to make a move to the right to get to a corner where you can get in some gear. While the rest is steep, you can get good gear in some horizontals and the copout isn’t too bad - especially if you’re willing to grab a couple of bushes on the right! [wry grin] Looking at the book later I noted that it’s rated 5.9+ R. I’m not so sure about the +, but I do agree with the R.
We walked out on the ATV trail, all the way past the shooting range/pit. The whole time we had been climbing there were lots and lots of people shooting. I’m not much of a gun person, so this kind of makes me uncomfortable. It’s certainly something that makes the climbing there “different” from any other place I know. If the weather continues to stay warm, as is predicted, I will likely go back this coming weekend. I will happily take whatever outside activities I can find this time of year.
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The White Mountain Report newsletter has been put out consistently since 1998. I have archived almost all of the Reports from as far back as September of 1999 and you can read them online at any time! The current traffic on NEClimbs.com is well over 1,000 unique visits a day, has over 1.4 million monthly "hits”. This funky little newsletter goes weekly out to over 1,200 subscribers every Thursday. PLEASE REMEMBER, tho it’s certainly a labor of love, it's your contribution that makes this newsletter and the NEClimbs web site possible.
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span class="reportSectionHeader">VALLEY CYCLING:
The riding is still quite nice here in the Valley. There are a few muddy patches here & there, but all in all things are holding up very well. I rode Sidehill, the Knot, Rattlesnake and Sticks & Stones last weekend and earlier this week and all are fine. If just have an hour and you’re looking for a real pump, check out the Mt Cranmore access road. It will take you almost to the top of the mountain with some really sustained climbing - 50 minutes up, 10 minutes down! You access it by riding behind the Fitness center and looking for an obvious dirt road on the left. Try not to leave your lungs on the side of the road!
Cranmore.jpg
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:
http://www.neclimbs.com/mobile
Check it out and if you have issues on your specific phone, please feel free to let me know.
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:
http://www.facebook.com/NEClimbs/
Remember - climb hard, ride the steep stuff, stay safe and above all BE NICE,
Al Hospers
The White Mountain Report
North Conway, New Hampshire
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| George Mallory |
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