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I know that last week I said that would be the last Ice report, and it was. That said, there still is a bit of ice here & there in the lower elevations. I don't know how long it will last, but I figured that I better grab some while I could. So text messages flew back & forth between Matty Bowman and me and we settled on Dracula on Wednesday.
We met in Glen at 8:45 and got to Frankenstein in short order. Bill King was out clearing a smidgen of snow from his driveway so we chatted for a few minutes. Among other things he's the local Fire Warden and he said that in spite of the snow, the ground was actually quite dry. It was his observation, which I agree with, that the snow is evaporating rather than actually melting. Look around, there's hardly any mud out there. He is predicting that there will be some fires here & there before too long. Take that as gospel folks!
We walked down the tracks, which in many places were devoid of snow. There was a lot of large debris at the base of the trestle slab, including pieces of a tree from up on the cliff! On etc way back there was even more, and we even saw some stuff come off in the sun. It was a reminder to be aware of what's above you, especially in the sun!
We geared up on the tracks & headed up. About halfway up the hill we are surprised to see another party come across in front of us from the right. We hadn't seen them pass us, nor any other cars in the Arethusa lot, so they must have come uphill from the road past & below Dracula. They were planning on doing the left side and me the right, so all was good. Here's a little video of my lead, thanks to master climber & video guy Matty. It was running a little water, the ice was OK and all in all it was a great morning.
Selected Ice Conditions effective November 27, 2025
There is minimal snow up in Crawford Notch. The pictures below are from Wednesday. While I drove through the notch today, I didn't bring a camera. However there is substantially less ice up there than there was yesterday. Mid day Wednesday it was 46 degrees at the Dry River Campground and 41 at the Highland Center. It rained a bit overnight as well. Today it was 40 at the Center! I have seen some great pictures of Pinnacle Gully from earlier in the week, but none from yesterday or today. That said, things will most certainly get better as the weekend goes on.
Huntington Ravine
UNKNOWN
Repentance
OUT
Standard Route
OUT
Dracula
OUT
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
I went back to the Notch this morning to ride my fat tire bike on Mt Clinton Road so I took the camera along. Here's a few pictures. I'm not going to predict what may or may not be climbable, especially with the rain and warm temps that's supposed to be coming through.
VALLEY CYCLING:
I've ridden a bit here & there over the past week or so, mainly on snowmobile trails that are still well packed out. This morning I rode Mt Clinton Road at the top of Crawford Notch all the way to the Base Road. I was thinking about going up Jefferson Notch but my phone died and I decided against it. Regardless it was GREAT riding. I may try Zealand or Bear Notch on Saturday if it hasn't rained too much.
Friends of the Ledges is a volunteer organization dedicated to the stewardship of local climbing areas and to preserving the historical tradition of climbing in the eastern White Mountains of New Hampshire and Maine. Highlights from the past couple years include replacement of 93 bolts and partnering with the Access Fund on major trail work and the opening of Band M Ledge. Plans for the future include additional trail work at Cathedral Ledge and continued bolt replacement including a couple popular lines on Whitehorse Ledge.
Friends of the Ledges can't continue this work without your support and our early 2018 fundraising goal is $3,000. Please visit our website to learn more and donate:
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.
