Trip Report
Tour of NH Moderate Classics
Friday October 17, 2014 11:22pm
Jess and I headed to New Hampshire for a week in mid-September to check out some classic New England climbing. We stayed in North Conway: highly recommended for its ridiculously easy access to great climbing, abundance of accommodations and handful of great food options. We had perfect weather (except for one day of intense rain) and explored a bunch of classic climbs at Whitehorse Ledge, Cathedral Ledge, Cannon Cliff and Rumney. Some highlights are below.

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Standard Route on Whitehorse Slabs (5.5): a highly-enjoyable 9...
Standard Route on Whitehorse Slabs (5.5): a highly-enjoyable 9-pitch romp up huge slabs and connecting intermittent cracks
Credit: timmaly
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Whitney-Gilman Ridge (5.7) at Cannon Cliff: uber-classic 6-pit...
Whitney-Gilman Ridge (5.7) at Cannon Cliff: uber-classic 6-pitch ridge climb with some big exposure
Credit: timmaly
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Jess coming up the Whitney-Gilman
Jess coming up the Whitney-Gilman
Credit: timmaly
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Thin Air (5.6) at Cathedral Ledge: terrific 3-pitch jaunt, whi...
Thin Air (5.6) at Cathedral Ledge: terrific 3-pitch jaunt, which we connected to 4 additional pitches above
Credit: timmaly
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Pine Tree Eliminate (5.8+) at Cathedral Ledge: awesome finishi...
Pine Tree Eliminate (5.8+) at Cathedral Ledge: awesome finishing option above Thin Air
Credit: Jessica Maly
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Upper Refuse (5.5) at Cathedral Ledge: great 3-pitch finish to...
Upper Refuse (5.5) at Cathedral Ledge: great 3-pitch finish to summit ledge above PTE & Thin Air
Credit: timmaly
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  Trip Report Views: 3,285
timmaly
About the Author
timmaly is a trad climber from Menlo Park, CA.

Comments
johntp

Trad climber
Punter, Little Rock
  Oct 18, 2014 - 12:08am PT
You need to wear brighter colors.

Bump for NH.
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
  Oct 18, 2014 - 03:51am PT
Noice pics, did Whitney gilman have good pro????
Gunkie

Trad climber
Valles Marineris
  Oct 18, 2014 - 04:14am PT
Awesome! I've done everyone of those climbs multiple times because they are so fun. Thanks for posting!
yanqui

climber
Balcarce, Argentina
  Oct 18, 2014 - 06:01am PT
Looks like fun
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
  Oct 18, 2014 - 06:28am PT
It's great fun to visit an area where every classic is brand new to you. Glad the weather played along too!
WanderlustMD

Trad climber
New England
  Oct 18, 2014 - 01:31pm PT
Nice to see some highlights from my home areas!
james Colborn

Trad climber
Truckee, Ca
  Oct 18, 2014 - 06:30pm PT
WICkED MINT!

Love NH. My folks had a house in Madison when I was in high school. Cathedral was the first encounter with climbing. Went back a number (over 10) years ago and climbed for a couple of weeks. Had a blast and ticked off a number of classic routes. Whitney gillman is by far the most classic route I've ever done.
Seamstress

Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
  Oct 18, 2014 - 08:46pm PT
Thin Air was my second climb ever. Awesome. Love NH Granite. Never got to do the Whitney G - looks like you had a great day!
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
  Oct 18, 2014 - 09:05pm PT
It's easy to be a California climbing snob, but there is some good climibng out east.
perswig

climber
  Oct 19, 2014 - 03:35am PT
there is some good climibng out east.

Internet rumor. Disregard.
Dale
JohnnyG

climber
  Oct 19, 2014 - 08:53am PT
woot woot
Edge

Trad climber
  Oct 19, 2014 - 01:37pm PT
You certainly hit a great cross section of the classics! Thanks for the stroll down memory lane...
timmaly

Trad climber
South Lake Tahoe, CA
Author's Reply  Oct 20, 2014 - 10:20pm PT
Thanks, all! @Ezra, the WG has good pro. It was a touch loose in some sections but no more so than any alpine route. The most challenging part may actually have been finding the approach trail (we hiked halfway up the descent trail before realizing our error, which sounds like a pretty common occurrence). Here is the pic of the "trail sign" for the approach.
phylp

Trad climber
Upland, CA
  Oct 20, 2014 - 10:47pm PT
Your first photo, of Whitehorse Slabs, was the first climbing of any kind I ever did in my whole life! I was blown away by how exciting it was to move over stone and go up and up! Still climbing, 34 years later, but I have never been back to North Conway.
One of these days...

Thanks for the TR!
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
  Oct 20, 2014 - 11:01pm PT
Best thread of the week.
wilbeer

Mountain climber
Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,
  Oct 21, 2014 - 06:05am PT
Agreed.
ddriver

Trad climber
SLC, UT
  Oct 21, 2014 - 10:37am PT
ttt for pics of somewhere I've never been but will some day. Thanks
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
  Oct 21, 2014 - 10:49am PT
Trade you one snob-overrun Nutcracker for one week of 'intense rain.'

kainboy

Social climber
Philadelphia
  Sep 4, 2015 - 02:01pm PT
If I might ask where did you guys stay? My girlfriend and I are heading up there in October with some similar objectives in mind.
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
  Sep 4, 2015 - 02:51pm PT
Glad someone bumped this, because I missed it the first time. Even with the abundance of superb granite to climb within a two hour drive of my house, you've convinced me that it would be worthwhile to take a trip rather farther east than I normally go to sample some of those goodies. Thanks for an excellent TR.

Oh, and what Mouse said.

John
timmaly

Trad climber
South Lake Tahoe, CA
Author's Reply  Sep 12, 2015 - 05:22pm PT
@kainboy: we stayed in one of the Northbrook condos in North Conway. We found it on VRBO/Homeaway. Convenient location and decent price. Would definitely recommend it. Have fun!
NutAgain!

Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
  Sep 12, 2015 - 05:26pm PT
Beautiful looking moderate climbs and scenery

Ritwik buddy, if I ever make it out that way you have to give me the grand tour.
lars johansen

Trad climber
West Marin, CA
  Sep 12, 2015 - 05:57pm PT
Looks like some great stuff, wish I was there-lars
susu

climber
East Bay, CA
  Sep 12, 2015 - 10:45pm PT
Aww nice! Brings me back! Beautiful shots.
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
  Sep 12, 2015 - 11:26pm PT
skcreidc

Social climber
SD, CA
  Sep 13, 2015 - 06:58am PT
Sweet stuff. Thanks for putting this up! These photos will help convince my wife we need to get on these areas.
slabbo

Trad climber
colo south
  Sep 14, 2015 - 10:08am PT
The amazing thing to me is that you seem to have these routes to yourselves ?! Crazy, was everyone sport climbing at Rumney ???

If you want, hit me up for some other classics that may be less known..I spent many years in the area
Gunkie

Trad climber
Valles Marineris
  Sep 14, 2015 - 12:11pm PT
Awesome! Brings back great memories. Did all of these climbs; many multiple times. I was fortunate enough to be able to tie off the 'pipe' on WG Ridge for protection. We got so lost on the descent. Good times.
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