Friends of the Ledges

04/15/2026

The snow is melting, the cliffs are drying, and that means it’s time to pick up trash and spiffy up trails! We’re heading over to Cathedral Ledge for our spring cliff cleanup day in a few weeks, and we hope to see you there!

On Saturday, May 2nd, we’ll meet at the picnic tables at the base of Cathedral from 3-6 pm, followed by some grillin & chillin.

Trash bags and gloves will be provided, please bring your own work gloves if you have them!

02/01/2026

The 2026 Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest online auction is live!

Check it out at https://2026MWVIceFest.fundraiser.bid or visit the MWV Ice Fest website https://www.mwv-icefest.com/ to link to the auction.

Bidding opens Thursday, Feb. 5 and closes Saturday, Feb. 7 at 11PM.

Items will be available to be picked up on Sunday, Feb. 8 at IME - International Mountain Equipment. You don’t have to be present to bid and win, we’ll ship you your item(s) or arrange for items to be picked up at a later date at IME.

Items will be available to view at IME, 2733 White Mountain Highway in North Conway, beginning Friday, Feb. 6.

Proceeds support Friends of the Ledges climbing area stewardship efforts, including bolt replacement, graffiti removal, and annual crag cleanups.

Since its inception, this event has been eagerly anticipated by ice climbers in the Eastern United States and is considered one of the premier climbing events in the country.

10/03/2025

You'll not want to miss this opportunity to hear from Rick Accomazzo and Henry Barber as they discuss Rick's new book, "Tobin, The Stone Masters, and Me 1970-1980".

Taking place at IME - International Mountain Equipment on Saturday, October 11 . $5 suggested donation at the door, with proceeds benefiting Friends of the Ledges.

10/02/2025

Join us for an evening at IME - International Mountain Equipment on Friday, October 17 at 7PM to learn about the results of the recent ice climbing economic impact study that was conducted by our partners at Vermont State University . Local climbers Kurt Winkler and Nick Aiello-Popeo will also be on hand to share stories of ice climbing in the valley form the early days in Crawford Notch to modern day, boundary pushing ascents.

08/10/2025

Happy summer everyone! Just wanted to put it out there that our next board meeting will be a public meeting. This Monday August 11th, at 6pm all are welcome! And feel free to bring your thoughts and ideas on how we can best take care of climbing in the MWV. See you there!

06/12/2025

On May 24, Friends of the Ledges hosted its first volunteer stewardship day at Jockey Cap Nature Area. 5 graffiti tags were removed from the Jockey Cap formation and the popular Peary Boulder using Elephant Snot and our new battery powered pressure washer. Approximately 6 bags of trash were also removed. This effort was part of FOTL's commitment to being the local steward for Jockey Cap, which was permanently conserved last year through a partnership between Upper S**o Valley Land Trust and the Town of Fryeburg.

As part of that conservation effort, USVLT is raising funds to complete much need stewardship projects on the property later this fall. Check out the page on our website (link below) highlighting this important work and the need for the community's financial support.

https://www.nhledges.org/projects-campaigns/jockey-cap-stewardship/

06/08/2025

FOTL board members Kurt Winkler and Mike Morin spent the morning removing several trees that had blocked the popular Bryce Path where it crosses the Upper S**o Valley Land Trust Climber's Preserve.

Did you know that FOTL is the volunteer steward for the Climber's Preserve and Jockey Cap Nature Area, two USVLT conserved properties that have protected climbing access in the Mount Washington Valley.

As stewards, FOTL also supports USVLT fundraising efforts for these properties when stewardship needs rise above volunteer capabilities. This is one of the those moments! Check out our website (link below) for details about USVLT's fundraising campaign for Jockey Cap and make a donation directly to USVLT via the link on that page.

https://www.nhledges.org/projects-campaigns/jockey-cap-stewardship/

06/04/2025

A giant piece of rock like Cathedral Ledge might seem like to most static and solid thing you could possibly think of, but sometimes nature surprises us. In the spring of 2022 there was a large rockfall event at Cathedral during a rainstorm, and a big chuck of the route Retaliation broke off.

This rockfall took out a large section of the approach trail to the Ventilator Slabs area, and flattened the bolts on the routes Starfire and Once Upon a Climb in the process. Although volunteers were out dealing with the mess almost immediately after, it has taken several years to fully clean up this section of the cliff. Last week and were able to replace the bolts on Starfire and Once Upon a Climb. Here’s Sam’s account of the process:

“In 2018, I Sam Bendroth the High Sky Marshall of Bolt Replacement for FOTL, replaced all of the bolts of the lower left slabs of Cathedral Ledge. Two of those routes were Starfire and Once Upon a Climb. Fast forward to 2022, there was a significant rock fall on a route above this area that damaged many of the bolts on the previously mentioned routes. I wanted to let the slope above settle out before rappelling below. We trundled a lot of loose rock off of the ledge right after the rock fall. I recently replaced nine bolts that were damaged in the rock fall. I was able to reuse all of the existing holes that I had previously drilled. Great to see that the rebolting systems FOTL has put into place work!”

Scroll through for a peek into FOTL’s bolt replacement process and to see the damage that occurred to the bolts. Also notice the vegetation growing back on the rock fall debris below Sam in the first photo!

Great work Sam and Katie, thank you!

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05/22/2025

It’s spring Cliff Cleanup season and this year we’re mixing things up a bit! We’ll be over in Fryeburg cleaning up Jockey Cap, and we hope you’ll join!

This Saturday, May 24th, 3-6pm. We’ll meet at the new Jockey Cap trailhead, 2/10 of a mile east of the Molly Ockett Middle School in Fryeburg. The parking lot is on the left, past the Jockey Cap store.

We will provide trash bags, bug spray, and refreshments, see you there!

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03/28/2025

Good morning! With the snow and ice starting to melt, our bolt replacing team is gearing up for the season, and they need your input! This is a great time to let us know about bad bolts that you have encountered while out climbing, or routes that you feel are in particular need of updated hardware. The hardworking bolt replacers want to take your feedback into account! You can find the form by clicking the “Bolt Replacement” link in our bio, and then clicking “submit an observation”. On that page you can also peruse the list of routes that have already had their hardware updated. Thanks for your help, and enormous thanks to all who have submitted observations over the years. This effort takes a passionate and dedicated community and we’re lucky to have that around here!

📷 by of and doing bolt replacement training.

02/21/2025

We need your help! If you’re an ice climber who climbs in the Mount Washington valley we encourage you to please take part in this study! The link can be found in our bio.
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You may remember a survey that we sent out last year about this same topic, that survey was a preliminary investigation created by FOTL, and through it we discovered that the economic impacts of ice climbers are likely significant and worth studying. This study is the next step, and is far more legitimate. It is being conducted by researchers at Vermont State University and the results could be instrumental in the protection of ice climbing access. Even if you took last year’s survey, we ask that you also take the time to take this one as well.
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Ice climbers have long contributed to the economies of the areas they visit, but the demographic profile of ice climbers, their use patterns, and their economic impacts are not well understood. Participation in this study should take approximately 15 minutes. For more details please contact Ben Mirkin, Ph.D. at [email protected]
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Please share with your friends and communities, and thank you in advance for taking the time to help!

01/13/2025

This great alternate approach to Frankenstein was recently brought to my attention and I just wanted to share it with you all. It’s faster and more direct than the Frankenstein Cliff trail, and still allows one to stay off the tracks for a good section of the approach. It’s so fast it might even be faster than walking the tracks!

Start out from the lower lot and hike straight, past the outhouse, crossing a dry stream bed. As this trail starts to bend back towards Route 302, there is a small sign for the Frankenstein Cutoff on the left, take this, it is a blue blazed trail. You can follow it to connect with the Frankenstein cliff trail, and then gradually contour up towards the tracks. You’ll pop out beside the tracks at a small cairn, within sight of the trestle.

Also wanted to let everyone know that on the days when the train comes through (Saturdays, Sundays of MLK and Presidents weekends, and February vacation week) it does so at around 11:30am and 1:00pm. Pretty much right in the middle of the day, so it should be fairly easy to avoid being on the tracks when it comes through. However there have also been a fair number of maintenance vehicles passing by on random days/random times.

Ice climbing in Crawford Notch is in full swing, and I’m noticing tons of trails broken out to avoid the tracks, and folks being really aware and courteous out there — Thank you all so much! Our ice climbing survey will be up soon, hoping you’re all getting ready to share it far and wide!

Happy climbing!

- Molly