Rumney Forest Fire

When I talked to the Forest Service lady, she was making it sound like a week or so of closure. They have to send in crews to remove "widow makers" and then another group is going in to check the damage done to the routes, rock and anchors.

My advice would be to find another crag for a few weeks until everything is sorted out.

Hi all,

Just an update, I had the opportunity As a representative of the RCAto walk some of the perimeter of the fire today with Acting district Ranger Tom Giles and Fire manager Erin Smalls. (hope I got the titles right)

The good news is that it appears that most of the crags have been spared any damage. we walked up to the top of orange crush, where the first fire damage is evident, it spread across the top of the main cliff and back up to the ridge line.

we hiked the worm hole trail, across to the top of bonsai, this whole area is burned pretty significantly. the was some fire damage to the trees at the base of bonsai but the crag remains unscathed.

we then went down to Vader and up to Wiamea, this area is pretty green and escaped damage. the trail up to jimmy cliff probably got hit the hardest but again, the cliff escaped damage.

The Wiamea trail designates the western edge of the fire so everything beyond that trial I believe is unscathed...

The fire is still burning up above the crags, the parking lots are being used as staging areas, There are hoses running all the way beyond the top of the main cliff and they expect that work will be going on for the remainder of the week.
For now Rumney is still closed and the USFS appreciates our support in spreading the word.

so good news all in all,

Cheers,

It's great news that none of the cliffs seem to be affected.

I've been pretty down since I had heard about this tragedy earlier last week... but this WMUR video shook me up and made me tear a bit.

wmur.com/video/16440271/ind…

James said it best: "it's like watching a home burn down".

Well there folks. Spoke to some of the crew in the parking lot yesterday and received some good news. Looks like things are going pretty well so far, and there is a possibility of being open for the weekend. Don't plan on it, and make sure to check the forest service website before coming up. It sounds like it will almost definitely be open next week. I also saw tim and he said that really none of the cliffs have been effected by the flames, no problems with the bolts, and the fire was mostly underbrush, not full on trees. Waimea and everything west wasn't hit at all by the fire. All in all it sounds like it's about as good as it could possibly get with the situation. Hopefully we will be seeing eachother at the crags this weekend.

That is such good news! hopefully things will keep going well!

Hey all,

I went out again today with Kori Marchowsky from the USFS and Jim Shimberg. We were looking for potential hazards and the conditions of the trails.

the Midewin hot shot crew is still on site, cutting the occasional hazard tree covering fire lines and still putting out smoldering hot spots. Yes there are still spots smoking!

oddly most trails remain unburned because the ground was compacted by foot traffic. the worst trails that we saw were by Jimmy cliff right and there are some trees down by Bonsai.

that being said there are undoubtedly plenty of unseen hazards such as burned trees and brush at the top of some of the crags that we all need to be aware of.

the USFS is anxious to open as soon as they can, I know they will make a decision as soon as they possibly can.

As far as trail work, and clean up, for now the shots are on the case. But the RCA does hope to get together with the USFS and schedule some much needed trail work.

Thanks to everyone that's volunteered to put in some time, we'll definitely let everyone know when we can give something back to Rumney.

hopefully I'll be letting everyone know soon when the status changes.

Cheers,

Bob

Driving home from the dump this morning I saw 5 NFS trucks driving away from Rumney, perhaps Rumney will open up soon!

ya boyeeee.... Rumney is open starting today ( Friday ). Just saw it on the news and the forestry webpage has confirmed this. Get ready for a lack of friction this weekend.

This is the release from the USFS

Rumney Rocks Climbing Area Open to the Public

Rumney Rocks Climbing Area and Rattlesnake Mountain Trail are reopeningto the public effective Friday, June 6, 2008.

White Mountain National Forest staff caution hikers and climbers using recreation areas within the area burned during the Rattlesnake Fire in Rumney, NH, must be aware of possible hazards resulting from the fire: snags or standing dead trees, loose rocks, and unstable trail edges. A fire in 1992 in this same area left many snags, standing dead and weakened trees; this new fire consumed many of these existing snags and brought others down.

The incident safety officer, George Pozzuto warned that any of these old snags and as well as previously healthy trees affected by this new fire may come down with no warning. Hikers and climbers in the fire area should not grab onto small trees as the trees may be easily pull out of the ground. Pozzuto also warned that rocks and trail edges may be loose and unstable due to the fire consuming organic matter around them andbelow the surface of the soil. The soil surface may look level, but may collapse when stepped on.

Climbers returning to the crags in the Orange Crush, Bonsai, Main Cliff, and Darth Vader areas should be aware that previously exiting bolts,carabineers, slings, quick draws and anchors may no longer be stable.
Hikers and climbers are asked to check the White Mountain National Forest’s webpage for updates. www.fs.fed.us/r9/white