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Mountain Report
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June 7, 2001 Hi folks, Well it was a pleasant 44 degrees at 6:30AM on the old back deck. Not too shabby, I'll take it! So what a weekend it was, raining almost the whole time. Too bad for all those folks who came up for the weekend, tho I understand there was a lot of good shopping to be had. (grin) Fortunately I was able to get out climbing on Wednesday and then again on Friday, which was a true 50 cent day. The weather has been quite strange up in the North country: 5+" of snow on Madison on Wednesday, snow on Mt. Washington, 34 degrees overnight here in the Valley, sleet in Franconia Notch and Smuggler's Notch Road closed for a day! Phew. On Friday I had the unique opportunity to assist Chris Martin, Senior Biologist with New Hampshire Audubon, in banding some Peregrine chicks over on a cliff in the Painted Walls area off the Kancamagas Highway. After a two hour hike uphill and over the top of Way In The Wilderness, we rappelled down the full length of a 60 meter rope to a ledge where the birds made their homes. The first 150 feet was slabby and dirty and the last 30+ feet was mostly vertical. We banded the 2 chicks and removed two unhatched eggs. I had hoped to be able to climb out, but as it was around 10d/11a I had to prussic. Glad I brought the slings, Chris had been smart and brought ascenders. There is a great picture of Chris on the front page of the NEClimbs site holding a chick and here's a cool picture of both babies: In sadder news, a skier was killed in Tuckerman this weekend. On Sunday a 23 year old female skier from Canada fell on her first turn of the day and slid 500 feet into some rocks. Conditions in the ravine have deteriorated substantially on the past 2 weeks, so if you are considering a visit, be aware. I have raised the Bug Report to a 4 this week. The black files are out in force and have begun biting. Don't go anywhere without bug dope. You have been warned! Last week I mentioned that if you wanted more information about the Lost Horizon Cliff you should call Brad at IME. Well actually you should call Brad at IMCS. They are different entities and have different phone numbers. IMCS is 603-356-7064. FYI - putting together the topo has proved to be a bit more work than planned, hopefully it will get completed this week. Sorry for the delay. Rob Adair pointed out that I had told people to park at the Covered Bridge CAMPGROUND. This is incorrect. Park at the lot near the entrance to the Boulder Loop Trail near the Covered Bridge itself, NOT the campground. Petzl has announced their latest belaying device, the Reverso. Dave Karl, local Petzl rep, pointed us to a test and review of the device posted on The United States Mountain Guides Association- Gear Reviews. Here's the link: The Reverso promises to be very popular and looks to be a great addition to your gear collection. We hope to have one in-house for testing soon. Speaking of links, it's time for our annual "Links Roundup." We want to have the best links to climbing sites on the web and we need your help. Last year we got some cool new ones and we've been adding to our list since. Please check out the ones on the Links page at www.neclimbs.com. If you have some cool new ones that are not there PLEASE send them along. we know there is great stuff out there that we haven't come across yet. Over the next 2 weeks I will be compiling them & will include them in the Report. Send them in via email to editor@neclimbs.com and please use LINKS as the subject. Peter Lewis and Dave Kelly from EMS have been spending some time rebolting some classic climbs on Humphrey's Ledge. (We hope that they replace the anchors on Sticky Wicket - hint hint.) One climb that got their attention was Wanderlust, a 5.8R that was put up by Michael Hartrich and the late Albert Dow in Spring of '81. They have added several bolts and rappel anchors that have turned it into a very nice 2 pitch 5.8+. Pitch 1 is the 5.8+ and pitch 2 goes at 5.7. In spite of the bolts this is NOT a sport route so be sure to take a normal rack. Here's a picture of the first pitch: This is a very nice climb on the left side of the cliff about 100 feet left of Sticky Wicket. They are also working on Piece Of Cake and Think Fast Mr. Moto. NEClimbs Update: Last but not least, when Danielle Gelinas and I were at Lost Horizon
last week we ran into a very unusual character. He was dressed most strangely.
As we approached, he seemingly "levitated" up the cliff while
shouting something that sounded disturbingly like "Beta Man, up and
away!" Fortunately she was able to snap a picture before he disappeared.
Keep your eye out for him, I'm concerned that he could reappear at any
time. You can see the picture on our home page. OK, enough of that...
Remember - climb hard, climb far, climb safe and whatever you do have great fun. Cheers, Al
Hospers "There are only
three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, Please tell others
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