Cannon Cliffs and Rain

Hello,

My friend and I are planning to climb Whitney Gilman this Saturday, but are in between whether we will go for it or not based on the weather in Franconia, NH leading up to Saturday.

About a month ago New England Aid climbers posted on Facebook warning about climbing Cannon cliff because of the recent heavy rains NH had been receiving for over a week straight. The warning was because of heavy rain dislodging loose rock.

This week appears to be very little or no rain in Franconia until Thursday night and Friday morning when there will be about half an inch of rain both days. If the forecast stays this way would we be alright to climb (obviously taking all the precautions we can based on cannon cliffs history of loose rock).

Wear a helmet and you'll be fine. There's always loose rock on cannon. I don't think this rain will have made that danger any more considerable on WG.

Rock fall yes, but more likely than that…make sure you’re prepared for rain. If the forecast says it won't rain, it'll still probably rain and you won't know it until it hits you.

These photos are from pitch 2 of Union Jack, and we got torrential downpour to sunny in a span of 9 minutes (see time stamps). By the time we got down to base, it was a completely bluebird sky. 5% chance of rain that day, and completely clear on the approach. 

Ah, Cannon…enjoy.

I never worry about helmet sized rockfall on cannon. I do worry about entire sections of routes falling down.   The way its been raining I would not be surprised if Cannon had a major incident this season... that being said WG dries the fastest and you will probably be fine. Pull down not out and don't fall on cams placed in inside corners :)  

PS I am supprised that people still climb Union Jack after the bombay chimny on P2 fell down a few years ago..... 

The WG isn't as bad for rockfall as the rest of Cannon because it's a ridge. There isn't nearly as much hangfire above you on that thing compared to say Vertigo or the Moby Grape. 

With that said, rain certainly does increase the likelyhood of rockfall. The water seeps in between the layers of the exfoliating dome and fractures them. Do your best to hike in directly and avoid traversing along the base. That should be pretty easy to do because there's a well trodden approach and descent trail for that route. 

Thanks! This is all very helpful. I’ll keep checking the weather, but as if now it seems like we’ll be going for it.

Don't kid yourself about WG being safe... I have been on Vertigo and watched massive rockfall from WG . Someone placed a cam behind a fridge sized block and weighted it....  oopsi.... 

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

Don't kid yourself about WG being safe... I have been on Vertigo and watched massive rockfall from WG . Someone placed a cam behind a fridge sized block and weighted it....  oopsi.... 

Nobody said that it was safe. What would safe even mean in the context of a 600 ft granite ridge in the alpine in an area known for horrible weather?  All I said is that the worst case accident where a rock spontaneously cuts loose above you is a lot less likely on that route compared the routes that traverse below square miles of broken slabs.

Got caught in an electrical storm on cannon years ago.  Snuck up on us from behind the wall on a bluebird day.  Scariest moment of my climbing career   

JB, safe would be a 600ft solid buttress with a splitter crack running up it rather than the pile of stacked blocks waiting to fall down that is the WG ridge ;) 

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

JB, safe would be a 600ft solid buttress with a splitter crack running up it rather than the pile of stacked blocks waiting to fall down that is the WG ridge ;) 

That's true. That kind of thinking is why I opted to stop climbing cannon after I ticked the classics.

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

JB, safe would be a 600ft solid buttress with a splitter crack running up it rather than the pile of stacked blocks waiting to fall down that is the WG ridge ;) 

Too many years ago my partner and I climbed what was literally a "600 foot splitter crack" on what seemed to be totally bomber rock as the lower part of a new route in the Winds. Less than a decade later, when a new guidebook to the range was published, I looked for the route to discover that at some point in the intervening years the first 300 feet of said crack had become part of the talus. So, you never really know--though, I agree, that on Cannon the 'odds' are always in doubt.

Alan, If totally bomber  can fall down where does that leave onion peel stacked block rubble?   asking for a friend ;)

I personally have dodged two  microwaves on  Union jack and Fafnir and watched large rockfall  event on WG. Isa witnessed very major rockfall that went all the way to the carriage road snapping off trees like matchsticks..... 

J B wrote:

With that said, rain certainly does increase the likelyhood of rockfall. The water seeps in between the layers of the exfoliating dome and fractures them.

Recall that the Old Man of the Mountain came down after a day and night of rainfall.

https://www.concordmonitor.com/Old-Man-on-the-Mountain-collapse-15-year-anniversary-17200538

I'm pretty much in the same situation as JB. I've done a fair amount on Cannon--mostly during a period when it didn't seem to be falling apart quite as much as it has for the past few decades. But once Whaleback parted ways with the cliff--a section I'd climbed under on a number of occasions, I have not been back, as much as I'd enjoyed climbing there.

I have only climbed W-G once, in 1968!!! and even then considered it a pile of tottering blocks, but places I then thought were relatively solid are no more.

I've climbed W-G 15- 20 times - all seasons.  And probably 50 other climbs (in ~15 routes) to the "summit" and maybe 50 single "cragging" pitches along the base.  Mostly in the 70 - 90's when Like Al said it seemed solid..or we were less wise - whoops that's  another thread. W-G was the first route I did on Cannon (4 years after Alan) and will likely be my last (2 years ago).  It may not have the potential for huge stuff to hit you from far above - but there is plenty of smaller close at hand "deadly" blocks.

The event I witnessed on WG was effin Big. somewhere between full sized fridge and Vanagon size. maybe  55 split window micro bus ;)  complete with the huge  cloud of dust  that looks like an artillary strike... 

Alan Rubin wrote:

I'm pretty much in the same situation as JB. I've done a fair amount on Cannon--mostly during a period when it didn't seem to be falling apart quite as much as it has for the past few decades. But once Whaleback parted ways with the cliff--a section I'd climbed under on a number of occasions, I have not been back, as much as I'd enjoyed climbing there.

I have only climbed W-G once, in 1968!!! and even then considered it a pile of tottering blocks, but places I then thought were relatively solid are no more.

Pretty much the same story for me. Even did Blockade sometime in the late 70's before it joined all its friends in the talus slope.

Yep, Blockade, Crackin' Up, Old Cannon. I was even with Henry and Bob when they first freed Whaleback. No way was I going to be able to climb that, so they dropped me a TR on Torque to escape. That was a wonderful pitch, but very appropriately named in retrospect, as that was the locus from which that whole section broke away. All those routes now no more--and I'm staying away.

Alan Rubin wrote:

Yep, Blockade, Crackin' Up, Old Cannon. I was even with Henry and Bob when they first freed Whaleback.

Does anyone still do Sam's Swan Song?

A friend of mine took a bad gear ripping fall on the wg. The party above him dislodged more rock trying to descend to help. I also assisted in a rescue on the wg. Imho a choss pile, and not that safe.