Hi, which are the 'good' months to visit Shagg between now and next June? Does the main wall have a seepage problem in the winter (on warm days) or spring?
Thanks in advance!

Like many New England crags...late October to mid November. In the Spring between Mothers and Fathers day you can expect some of the worst bugs imaginable. Seepage is not much of an issue. My personal favorite times for climbing at Shagg were November through March. Summers early mornings or late evenings are ok.

OK, thanks for the tip. I guess I will shoot for March then since I will try to stay with Rumney as late into this season as possible.

I have limited experience with Shagg in the snow, but I do know that it isn't as rain-worthy as, say, Waimea. It can withstand a brief rain, but in moderate to heavy rain all the routes start getting wet up top.

With full snow cover (and a broken trail), the approach to shagg isn't too bad, but with marginal snow and warm temps, those slabs can get quite treacherous.

As for the climbing, as long as the snow isn't melting on the top, the crag stays dry. Since it has pearly white rock and faces south, it stays surprisingly warm as long as the sun is shining. I'd bet it'd be fine until early to mid-December on sunny, fairly warm days.

Shylo is right about the springtime bugs. Our trip there in April had the worst I've ever experienced in New England. Also, in early spring, you have to take in to consideration the snow melting off the top. This will wet the upper 30 ft of most of the routes.

Shagg gets roughly the same weather as Bethel and North Conway. Most years it has a decent amount of snow but this year it's been pretty sparse. A couple friends got shut out at Shagg last year early April due to seepage, and by early May the bugs were unbearable.

March could be good, if you hit the right conditions: sunny and warm enough to make the climbing fun but still cold enough to prevent melt off from the top of the cliff.

Let me know how it goes if you end up going.

Steven

Some folks I know climbed up there within the last couple weeks. With the lack of snow this winter, it's apparently nice up there at the moment. If we don't get much snow between now and March, it should be in fine shape for you.

Thanks for your answers.
I'll check in in a month or so for updated snow conditions. Worst off if I drive there for a long weekend and the conditions suck I can always drive further to Rumney and am almost guaranteed to find some dry routes. Would rather hit Shagg though.

When we used to climb there in the winter is was always really nice... the upper parts of the main routes def can get a little wet but there are usually plenty of routes that stay dry on the lower walls.

And if you drive up there and the wall is wet you can always bring a pad or two and hike down into the boulder field!