Back Stairs 

John,

Could you give more detail on the directions. There are a number of Jericho roads in New Hampshire. GPS coordinates may be useful as well.

No clue about the GPS.
If you drive north on RT 302 from Bartlett, just BEFORE the river, Jericho Road is on the right. If you come up to White's ledgearea, you have gone way to far.
The drive up Jericho is maybe 4 miles ?

Sounds interesting, but "cleaned on the lead" translates to "completely lichen covered," no?

I'mguessing it's pretty bad now, the f/a was '84 and i only know of a few ascents. It's a good route, well worth the hike in.
Also some recent activity on this cliff in the 11+ range

Brady Libby was working on some stuff here a few years ago and was trying to get me to come out, but I was already involved elsewhere and didn't want to get too spread out. He seemed impressed by the possibilities though. It is a no power drill area if I remember correctly.

Jericho road is about a mile west from where rt 16 coming down from Pinkam runs into 302.
maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Right mark. Some good sized roofs and lots of thin cracks.

I made several trips out here a few years back with Brady Libby. He had put up an aid line with J LaFlemme years before this and wanted to go back and free it.
My dreams were of us waltzing in, blasting up clean splitters and heading back in time for happy hour at The Moat with a rad new route under our belts. The reality of the situation was some heinous horizontal bushwhacking with gargantuan packs, kitty litter-lichen covered rock, an unsuccessful bid to clip an old bolt with a 30ft stick clip, and some extreme vertical bushwhacking. No actual climbing was done on the first day.
We retreated to the lean-to and were blessed with a surprise visit from our friend Kirsten Thomas, who cooked us salami and cheese sandwiches on a shovel over an open fire. Day two was more of the same and we left with our tails between our legs.
This trip sparked a fire in Brady that could not be contained. He spent the better part of the next few summers out there putting up a slew of great routes. Todd Schaefer, Matt Mccormick, RJ Monton and I joined him when we could. When he could not find partner he would head out there alone to get things prepped and ready. There was also talk of the North Conway crew spending some time up there before moving on to bigger and better things.
This is a great backcountry crag with a true feeling of a wilderness experience. There still potential for new routes and adventure out there, so stop reading this and get going!
Timmy D

Right on !!! I heard brady did a fine 11+ 3 pitch line ?

Yeah, it sounded pretty impressive when he was describing it to me. I would like to get him to post up some information, but I think he is pretty busy these days. This is one crag that Handren's new guide is really missing a lot of information. I'll work on Brady and see if he will post up ;)

I'm a bit confused about the wilderness designation for this area- is it a"real" wilderness, no fixed ??? Or just " no mechanized ?

It is in the Presidential Range-Dry River Wilderness. My understanding is it is just "No mechanized equipment or mechanical transport (including bicycles, carts, and wagons. Wheelchairs are allowed.)"

www.fs.usda.gov/detail/whitemountain/specialplaces/?cid=stel>>>

Brady said he ran into a ranger and she was only concerned that he not be using a power drill. It would be worth double checking the climbing plan though. I can't find it on the FS site atm. I guess you can ride a bike in part of the way until you get to the border

Good thing wheelchairs are allowed ! I was talking with some Chinos guys and they thought " no fixed "
A ton of stuff to do up there.. 170' hands to tips crack, 5" out a 10' roof, 2 pitch arete....
The Stanton ridge , which is on your left going in, has a few lines as well, up to 140'

It's tempting to rent one of these www.planetmobility.com/store/wheelchairs/power/vestil/index.>>>
to haul your gear in. 19 mile range and can handle 400 lbs.

But the chair's 15 deg inclination limit might put a damper on things, Mark. :) Time for pack mules!

You might make it to back Stairs, but not the 2 upper crags. The trail is for sure a NH 3+...kinda steep.
We tried to get ahold of a moose for the Captain.. a real Pack Moose.. they clear trails well