Update 5-2022: I will be updating ”page 9”, but will no longer be posting new entries on this journal. Thanks for the support all.

2-5-2022 Mythological 3p-WI5+ w/Michael T.

2-6 Carlsberg 3p Wi5 

2-7 Distillery mixed m7

2-8 Superbok 3p WI5 w/ Michael, Doug 

2-10 Suffer Machine 4p,wi5,m7-ao w/ Michael T, Doug 

What an incredible trip! I was just going to do Mythological, but when I saw how close it was to my friends new place in Golden, I decided to stay for the week.

Well since WordPress insists on charging me for my website, and my readers won’t help with any expenses, I’m left with the decision about whether to keep the site going or not. this one is pretty much over.

My friends and I had a great time at the 2021 Bozeman ice festival! The festival did however dodge a bullet with temperatures that finally started to go down enough to build ice. Though there were many cancellations there were still a lot of people climbing ice there, and it appeared that everybody went home happy. With six days of mixed and ice with many friends, I did too. Though things started out thin, conditions are improving rapidly.

12/7-12/21 Hyalite 17p to WI5, M6

12-7 Amphitheater 5p to m6 wi3 w/ Duncan. lots of fun new mixed routes here now! thanks Tate!

12-8 Magically D + 2dt 3p to m6 w/ Mik

12-9 Upper Greensleeves R 2p wi3 w/ Dave AJ, Moe. super day out with adaptive crew. thanks Sterling Ropes!!

12-10 Matrix x2 w Jenn. our favorite

12-11 Zach Attack attempt 3p to wi3, m4. too cold/ windy today, but route in good shape.

12-12 Comet, Astreroid 2p wi5. Comet is so fun!

It was so fun to see my friends Priti and Jeff give their amazing multimedia show on their sabbatical. They are stars now and definitely have a “brand“. We will be hearing much more from them in the future I’m sure.

The tactic that I use to get ice routes during the crowded festival is I go super early and try to do more difficult routes around the festival/clinic area. It seems to work really well. Other tactics I have seen: people get out late and climb at dark.

The other reoccurring theme that I noticed is that there are many young people, particularly women, are trying to develop climbing partnerships and are struggling. The thing that I would tell the men are: please be inviting and inclusive, and help all of our young alpinists to get their reps in and connect with the community. The thing I would tell young people looking to get established: post “partner wanted”on the various partner finding options often. Screen, and find the best possible partners to get out with. And be patient, it takes a long and continual time to develop a good list of partners. I personally have about 20 people that I tend to climb with, but I’m always looking to take out new people and build the community.

I also hope to see a “Mixed Day” at the next Festival. With climate change, it is the future of the sport.

Shopping is a Feeling M5 WI5, Photo by Doug

12-11 Amphitheater and Matrix 3p to WI4 m4. Mixed move at base of Matrix, then fat

12-12 Avalanche Gulch attempt 3p to wi3 m3. Too thin at first crux(p3), 2nd pitch was bony

12-13 Flanders Field, King of Belguim, Shopping is a Feeling 3p m5 wi4 w/ Doug. OMG Shopping is so fun!!! KOB is thin and has dead tree climbing In gully!

12-24 Amphitheater 2p  WI4 w/ Jenn. Picked out

12-25 Dribbles, Silken Falls 5p WI4. Fun link up, but we were going to try Alex in Wonderland but there was no Booter in the deep snow.

12-26 Horsetail Falls 2p WI4 w/ Jenn, Kate. Classic and fun especially at the finish! 6 inches of new snow overnight

12-27 GLO, Bingo World 4p to WI6. Jenn lead her first WI5! And Bingo World was completely great!. I finally caught it in good enough shape to feel safe on it. Chandeliered start, I wrapped around it from behind it clockwise.

12-28 Alpha, Omega 2p WI5. Ended the trip(s) with these two mega classics. Omega is wet, picked out

Since we can’t go to Canada, us Americans that want to go ice climbing must stick with US options. Fortunately one of my favorite places to go is Hyalite Canyon near Bozeman. Though working nearly full-time I managed to steal away for two quick trips there. The first with the skier Doug, we squeezed three busy days in but didn’t get any of our big objectives however.
Next, my new wife Jenn and I went for a long and very special Christmas weekend. We did a bunch of classic, amazing ice climbing. We met some great new friends, but ran into so many Washington, and Oregon people there climbing as well. Now, the area is busy, so we got early starts and did more obscure climbs to combat that. Though things socially are different…it was very nice to add to my many good memories here in this canyon. Can’t wait for my next trip in two more weeks!

I swear, my life is like being in a wild movie at times. Strange ironies and plot twists are always around the corner when going for big objectives, or in this case sometimes not going for them…

I had given up for the year on the second of 2 projects for the season. My first project was Astroman last fall, and it went well. Next, I was going to throw everything I could at the next project, including hiring a guide for the Cryo! The route came in fat, but the stars never aligned , so until I was asked by a random stranger to climb Cryo, it was off. More on that later.

After being home for 1 day from Colorado, the Puget Sound floods barely let me pass to fly to Calgary for the week. Joining me for all but 2 days, Jenn and I wanted to make the most of it while our town became an island. Except for the deep snow, conditions were great. We dispatched some great climbs right away! :

2-7 Dream On 5p to wi4 w/Landon. Did all of the pitches around it, Saw Nachtmahr! See photo.

2-8 Louise Falls 2p to wi4w/Jenn. Had it to ourselves in afternoon. J’s first go at it.

2-9 Melt Out 3p wi3 Fun, wet route

2-10 Weeping Pillar 6p wi6 w/Jenn. Did the proper route this time. Jenns first wi6! chandelier second pitch for 15m. Long route!! Dripping mostly avoidable.

2-12 The Drive-In 3p D6 w/Jenn Leads D5!. Great, moderate dry tooling!!

2-13 Cryophobia attempt 6p wi5+ M8 (A0 for us) w/James W.

The night before Jenn and I were going for Weeping Pillar, there was another group of 3 that were staying at Rampart as well. They had tried a variety of routes(Curtain Call, Weeping Pillar, Musashi) with limited success for wild reasons as well! We got to talking mixed, and James from NZ, busts out with looking for partners to do Cryo. I looked over to Jenn and asked her if she knows anyone interested in doing it.

Ambitions should be kept realistic.

I knew that the climb was over my head, that’s why the guide idea sounded great. Now I would have to swap leads, find the new (much longer)approach, ascend, and descend without much beta. I was nervous as I kissed my gal goodby at the airport the night before. The next am, we were off-route soon enough with all the different roads and trails wandering around. We lost an hour, but got lucky the rest of the way in. The big issue was obviously going to be the winds. Once on route, we were hammered by high winds and spindrift soaked our gloves. Mid route, there was a lull in the storm, but as we pushed on to near the top, it burst, and the last belay I did was brutal. It was only 1 ice pitch to the top, but the margins of survival got too thin. If there had been a walk off, we may have gone on, but I was worried about the overhanging rappels in again high winds. Only by pushing a bit beyond what we should have, did we get up the business of the route, but like being a bad actor in a movie, we took “aid” on many a bolt. So it is with dreams-come-true, the truth sometimes hurts. The way out was brutal, but the wind was now at our backs after 12 hours on the move. We may have ended up in the ditch on the drive out too. The route is incredible and lives up to the hype. I am glad I picked so worthy of an objective. This will be hard to top, and I may retire from such bold objectives anyways.

This amazing 96p season could not have happened with the help of so many great people. I am sure to miss a few names, but thanks Jenn, Landon, James, Steve, Janet, and Dave. You all rock!

At the last minute, Lane and I decided to use his companion pass and go enjoy good ice climbing conditions in SW Colorado. With 4 days at our disposal, we made the most of it, dispatching 3 multi-pitch routes.

This season, I have been inspired to get after routes that don’t always come in. The word gets out on face bu k, and the want list grows for us all! Though easy to hate on the social networks dark side, for sure, it is so nice to have an information and social medium to pave an expressway to your dream climbs. Crowding can be an issue, we had to wait until noon for Ames. No big deal in 40 degree temps though.

Special thanks to Lane, Carley+ Jason, Harvest+ Kristen, Tyler+ Lucas, Mary+ Lance, Tasha+ Dylan, @sterlingropes, and the WAC( for the top rope and hot chocolate)!

…and ,Hey Reader! Thanks for supporting the community!

An amazing new guidebook is out too! Get a copy of Suffer Candy TODAY!!

2-1-20 Avocado Gulley 3p+1 w3 w/Lane + 4 others. Rarely formed moderate route, great warm-up. Hooked, but fun!

2-2 Ames Ice Hose 4p w4+ w/Lane. Amazing climb! My Colorado favorite so far..Hooked, but fun!

2-3 Whorehouse Hoses 2p w5. Fun climb, setting. We got hit by a crazy storm on second pitch! (video)

2-4 Ouray Ice Park 2p. Fun as usual, Shout out to the WAC!

Click on images to enlarge..

Heading back to Hyalite was like visiting an old friend. Upon seeing it, the memories flood into the mind, as does desire to create new ones. Though the conditions of the ice was great, the snow kept piling up giving me the willies about avalanche possibilities. In the end, it took reassurances from people that successfully tried riskier climbs for me to go for some of the more intriguing gullies. Wind was a big concern too for both drifting, and chill effect. It was one of my all-time trips there. 21 crazy pitches with 6 different people! SO Grateful to friends old and new for this amazing week of ice and mixed climbing. Shout out to #sterlingropes too!

1-5-20 Jeffs L, Black Magic- m6 wi5 Unnamed Wall w/Jeremy(prime condition)

1-6 Bobo Like wi5 3p w/ Jeremy (Prime condition, deep snow though)

1-8 Dielectric Breakdown wi5 2laps w/Erik (Prime condition, hooked)

1-9 Matrix, Feeding, Scepter wi5 w/Travis (prime- too fat!Sceptrr drips in places)

1-10 G2, HomeFA M7 w/Lane (PRIMO!, though our party took off much ice, sorry)

1-11 TIG, GLO, JL wi5-Unnamed w/Lane, Jenn, Marko (prime, hooked

1-12 Cleopatras Needle wi5 2p w/Jenn( Wet! first 40′ of crux)

1-13 MC 234 WI6 w/Jenn (Prime, with MC4 being athletic and pumpy!)

What a great venue Bozeman is! No wonder it is an exploding city. Low commitment, high quality, and access, it has it all. Thanks to Icefest for keeping the road plowed.