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I know I talk about the weather a lot, but that's because it's been so wacky. we will go for days with absolutely perfect weather, and then for 18 hours it all goes to crap. It happened a week ago, and then again yesterday. The rain started in the mid-late-afternoon and did the proverbial cats-and-dogs thing! In around 2 hours we got the better part of 2" here at the cliff.
I would look out the window and barely see the other side of my back yard. It was that intense. There was some lightning, but fortunately not that much. From what I saw on the news at 6:30 it was worse in the southern part of the state. There were some pretty big storm cells that in a couple of places had some rotating winds. I don't think there were any actual reported tornados or microbursts fortunately. It seems to me that we've had some pretty significant storms this summer, coupled with extended periods of dry weather. Extremes I would have to say...
I did get out climbing with Joe Perez on Tuesday, which was probably the nice day of the week. The temperature was in the mid-70's and humidity quite low. We decided to just run over to Humphrey's and do Yellow Jacket, and then see what we felt like after that. Joe led it first, I lowered him off and then I took a run. I noticed that the right anchor nut was loose, so I tightened it up. Joe wanted to take a toprope run on his route just to the left, Put My Foot Where. He did a good job on it, getting the thin crux moves at the top. I took a pass, but decided not to mess with the final thin moves at the top. I'm just too worried about my hands these days. [sigh] I'm getting a cortisone shot next week so hopefully that will help.
I'm going down to Alton tomorrow to climb with George Hurley at Rines Hill. He has some new moderate routes that he wants to show me. That should be fun. Stay tuned...
I have a number of concerts and shows coming up over the next 6 weeks that have kept me practicing a lot. Some are original music and some are difficult covers. That said they all are fun. Here's a few pix from the week...
Selected Ice Conditions effective January 28, 2026
Overall there is a LOT of ice out there right now. From everything I hear, the better conditions are in the sun where the ice can get plastic. Stuff in the. Shade is hard, brittle, and it's not getting refreshed like we all would like.
Huntington Ravine
numerous options
Repentance
been done
Standard Route
GOOD
Dracula
IN & fat
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
VALLEY CYCLING:
I've been only riding on the road and trying to combine errands with riding where possible. Yesterday, Wednesday, morning I had to take my car to Frechette to get the tires rotated. Since I bought them there they do it for free. I called and they weren't busy so I threw the road bike in the car and headed over. The weather looked inclement but the radar said I had an hour or two so I headed up Passaconaway Rd. I saw a couple of other riders and I managed the 12.4 miles out to the covered bridge and back in a brisk 54 minutes. I noticed a new granite marker for a cemetery a few miles up the road. It looks like the road up the hill to the plot has been cleaned up as well. I'll have to check it out sometime soon.
Fortunately it didn't rain, but it started drizzling as I was putting the bike in the car. I headed back through town and stopped at Levitt's for a chocolate doughnut. recently someone asked me why I went to the gym and rode so much. I think it's so that I CAN eat that occasional doughnut. And BTW, if you haven't had one of their doughnuts, you haven't lived!
INSTANT BUG REPORT - Bug CON 2:
Sticking with a 2 for this week. While they aren't bad, there are mosquitoes out there, When we were climbing at Humphrey's on Tuesday they were annoying.
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.
