Cannon Cliff conditions?

Looking at Moby Grape in about ten days. Anyone have any suggestions?

I would check with neclimbs.com.. I'm guessing Cannon is pretty wet..Maybe W-G, but the descent could be real snowy. The other crags in Franconia could be better

Thanks

I did WG on May 5th 2 years ago... The Rock was dry but we came across waist deep snow in spots on the hike down, I'm 6'4" in height, and had a heck of a time finding the walk off trail in the snow.

It's probably do able but I would let it dry out some and let whatever loose rock that's up there fall...

I would suggest waiting. Cannon in the early spring is pretty much asking for rockfall.

Yer gonna die!

Yeah, Cannon in April would be a big no bueno....Personally, I wouldn't touch that place till at least May, even later....

Kinda thought so. Thanks for confirming my thoughts. Probably leave that until later this summer. So I AINT GONNA DIE!!! Just yet haha

Well ... If you are in the area you might as well stick you nose up there and give it a shot. If you get up to the Triangular Roof and it is running water you can easily down lead, easy 5th class to the rap station at the end of Reppy's and get out of Dodge. The only obvious loose stuff on Moby is above the Triangular Roof at the start of the ramp leading up to the Sickle belay. If it comes off it is going to fall well to the right of the route. If the slabs leading up to The Cave are wet and they are likely to be I would go to the right side of the giant block of rock that makes up the LF corner leading to The Cave and go up the somewhat hidden offwidth/chimney leading up to the finishing cracks.

Disclaimer: I don't often climb on Cannon early season since it is often too cold and wet. However two seasons ago the area between Whitney Gilman Ridge and Duet Buttress experienced a great deal of pretty significant rock fall in the late June through August time frame. Last year there was a very significant rockfall beneath Sam's Swan Song in late August, early September. So it leaves me to wonder if the don't climb on Cannon until June rule s really valid. It may be more the area you are in then the time of the year. The upside of climbing early season is you don't have to deal with the thunder storms and ligntening that frequently occur later in the season and may offer more objective hazards than falling rock early in the season.

A lot of the big events that occure in june are after a heavy rain.... Still won't get me up there when stuff is activly thawing out which is right now.. darwin award material INMOP.

Drove through the notch on Friday. It's still winter. Lots of snow. And the cliff was soaked. Hell, walking off Upper Hitchcock to Mt Willard trail after ice climbing Tuesday I was post holing to my waist. Even today in spots walking down from Jimmy Cliff at Rumney there was snow to my knees.

And as others have said - let the freeze thaw cycles take place and get rid of loose rock before venturing out. I've seen a couple big rock falls in May even.

Last year, the first week in May, I headed there for the Grape as well. Water falls streamed down the cliff and the ice formations were falling down to the left and right of us.

We climbed the first pitch up the buttress once of twice (since it stays a tiny bit drier than the rest of the way) and then bailed… Recommend waiting until the spring thaw has ended.

It's a bit aways from Moby,,but the Omega ice climb was done a couple days ago..

Mickey Hardt wrote:Last year, the first week in May, I headed there for the Grape as well. Water falls streamed down the cliff and the ice formations were falling down to the left and right of us. We climbed the first pitch up the buttress once of twice (since it stays a tiny bit drier than the rest of the way) and then bailed… Recommend waiting until the spring thaw has ended.

Does anyone have any info on the conditions of Whitehorse? I will be hiking in the area Saturday and thinking about doing something on the slabs Sunday? Will it even be dry or will it be seeping from snow?

For conditions on Whitehorse I'd give IME in North Conway a call. Whitehorse is practically on their front doorstep they've always been happy to give me an update on conditions whenever I've called.

Does anyone know what the rest of Franconia Notch looks like? I know it's usually pretty seepy in spring, but I was thinking about heading down this weekend to check it out.