Trying something new in Hyalite

Hyalite is our local ice climbing destination and we make sure to get out there on a regular basis.  While it does have one of the highest concentrations of ice routes anywhere, exploring new areas is essential.  Not to be disrespectful of the climbing in Hyalite, but lately the stoke factor isn't what it used to be.  My buddy Keith was feeling the same way and for good reason...  I think seventeen of his nineteen days this year have been in up in Hyalite.  So time to change it up some. Yesterday Keith and I headed up to Twin Falls with the goal of skiing the trees above the climb.  I've climbed Twin a few times before but always early season when it is the only ice formed in the whole canyon.  It seems like that's the norm, as the broken trail ended at Cleo's.  To be honest the last little bit of the approach was probably the crux of the day.  Waist deep snow with ice gear plus a full backcountry set-up meant some hard work was required to reach the base of the ice.  The climb itself went well, though WI3 is more challenging with an extra set of boots and a board on your back!

Afternoon sun over Hyalite

The avalanche forecast wasn't the most confidence inspiring but we figured staying on more mellow slopes would be okay.  It has actually been quite a while since I last dug a pit so doing just that and analyzing the layers was really enjoyable for me. The two feet of snow we received last week was sitting on top of some poorly bonded sugar snow. Not ideal and because of that we stayed down in the trees. While the skiing wasn't incredible we knew it was going to be more of a scouting mission than a full on powderfest.  I'd stay the day was a success though as we were able to explore a new area, refresh our snow science skills, and get in some fun tree skiing.  Next time we'll plan for a whole day and make sure we've got a more stable snowpack!

Can you find the weak layer?

Time to get after it!

      A year ago when this whole idea of an AK climbing trip came into being, Trevor and I were on the same page about it—completely stoked, ready, and willing to share the workload to make Huntington a success. So far, he has done everything right. He has been getting out to climb, working out, getting in shape, and most notably getting a shit-ton of support for us to do this! Sponsorships and grant money were never part of the original plan, but low and behold they’ve been coming out of the woodwork. The American Alpine Club, Black Diamond, Katabatic Gear, Timber Trails, Northern Lights Trading Co, and Kates Real Food are all putting faith in our ability to reach the summit. This level of support is surreal and all of it has been Trevor’s doing.

The West Face of Mt. Huntington, photo cred: cascadeclimbers.com

The extent of my training: trying on
new gear over my clothes ...indoors.
Photo cred: Jane Mulcahy

      My performance, on the other hand, has been abysmal! I’ve been spending the past few months trying to devote my time to graduate school applications and all of the associated rigmarole. As I type, in fact, I am procrastinating the very last application, which is currently hiding in another window on my laptop. I have been biding my time in my apartment, at work, or local coffee shops as I watch my friends get after it with 30+ days of climbing and skiing already under their belts this season. Finally, almost everything is over with—applications, funding, research topics, advisor correspondences, campus visits, etc. The balancing act required to focus on non-climbing life while trying to train at the same time is a problem every climber is familiar with and a topic worthy of many blog posts unto itself. For now I will say that my ability to focus on multiple goals at the same time is apparently non-existent being that I’ve done almost nothing to contribute to the preparation of our trip. Some of my pathetic stats for this winter, pitches climbed: 10 (including indoors!), miles ran: 30 (maybe), days in the gym: 5 (and not for vey long), money raised: $0. If I don’t change my habits drastically and very soon, I am going to die on Huntington this spring (literally).

      So, I bought a membership to our local gym. I’ve started doing my research online (the Gym Jones and Mountain Athlete websites are great resources!). I’ve bought books on training and diet. I am patiently awaiting Steve House’s new book on training for alpine climbing, which is slated to go to press sometime this spring. I am also lucky to have the support of close friends in this endeavor. It's great to have my roommate, Adam, who is also in training for the upcoming rock season and a summer of guiding, that is of course if he stops supplying our snack cupboard with Oreos and freezer with Ben and Jerry’s! Also, my brother, an accomplished climber and newly converted disciple of Crossfit, is giving me a bunch of training advice. The plan is to outline every detail of the next three and a half months to optimize my time and get in the best shape of my life. Will it happen? Can it happen? I don’t know, but I’m damn sure going to try! I owe Trevor 200% effort from here on out.

Excellent training material - Extreme Alipinism by Mark Twight, and CLIMBING: Training for Peak Performance by Clyde Soles. Courtesy of www.mountaineersbooks.org

      This weekend, while Trevor, Adam, and another of our climbing partners, Keith get out for an epic weekend of climbing in the Beartooths, I will stay home, finish my last application, and put together my training schedule. My baseline will be established next week when Trevor and I embark on our first real training trip—5 days of pushing our limits in the Canadian Rockies. We have a lot of ambitious goals. It will be interesting to see what we can accomplish.

Mixed Master, Canadian Rockies, photo cred: cascadeclimbers.com

      With that, so it begins (for me, anyway). My stoke has been building to an all-time high… it is officially time to get after it!

Christmas and Cody

So it has been a while since the last post.  But there is a good excuse I swear!  Since the last post I have been working.  Yes, making money at a place of employment.  As it turns out being unemployed for two and a half months is amazing for climbing but less than ideal for the bank account.  After working for the past month or so I now only owe Jane $225!  And come payday Thursday at 11:59pm I will no longer be indebted to my girlfriend.  That makes both of us happy.  

After working for three weeks I was starting to become quite restless.  Multiple months of no responsibilities will do that to you I guess.  Lucky for me we had ten days off for Christmas and New Years.  With everyone heading back East to visit family but me I decided it was the perfect opportunity to visit Cody, WY.  I'm sure that my mother would have preferred to see me for the holidays, in fact she told me so, but ice climbing it was.  

The holidays started out with a very rushed stopover in Jackson, WY on the way to Denver.  It would have be longer but in typical fashion I took forever to pack.  Someday I will be efficient!  I'll blame the snowy road this time though.  After dropping off Jane at the Denver airport my cousin, Aaron and I headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park.  Soon I discovered my current level of fitness wasn't top-notch.  We climbed Alexander's Chimney on Long's Peak... topping out at almost 13,000.  What an amazing climb, but the almost five mile approach and post-holing completely exhausted us.  Fourteen hours of sleep later and a 2:00pm started resulted in a beautiful snowy day chatting with lost tourists and casual soloing in the Loch Vale area.  Then it turned out to be a Christmas fulled with family after all!  Fondo dinner and Christmas mass with my cousins, their partners, and my aunt.  More traditional than any other Christmas I've ever had.  And I came to CO to climb!

After a relaxing Christmas spent with the family it was off to the airport again.  This time I was picking someone up instead of completing a drop off.  Peter, a good friend of mine from college had flown out to join Aaron and I for the climbing up in Cody.  A eight hour snowy drive placed us in the South Fork of the Shoshone and surrounded by a myriad of appealing climbs.  I had made a trip down to Cody last winter and it would be an understatement to say I was stoked to be back.  We started off the trip with a drippy WI3, Stringer.  Being back in the South Fork was such a welcome change from the local climbing here in Livingston, MT.  While Hyalite is world-class and Pine Creek is also contains a few classics, they just don't have the multi-pitch climbs Cody does.  It seems like every climb in Cody, no matter the length or difficulty, involves never-ending flows of ice.  That eagerness to see what's around the bend, what's hidden just out of sight, that is what makes climbing in Cody such a wonderful adventure.  Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked here... back to Stringer.  The climb only had one main pitch, but then just kept on going and going up through multiple WI2-3 steps.  That is what Cody is all about, seemingly limitless ice that is just right for soloing.  For me anyway... it was Peter's (who now lives in Nashville!) first day of ice for the season.  He survived though and soon we retired to the campfire and our zero degree bags for the night.  

Pitch 1 Stringer

Day two brought us to Smooth Emerald Milkshake, a long tiered WI4 a few miles up Deer Creek.  Christian and I had climbed it last year and I knew it was a must-do climb for Peter's first time to Cody.  Lucky for us the snow was post-hole free this year and we made quick work of the approach.  The ice was a little bit thinner than last year, but I got to lead the crux pitch!  Last year it wasn't my block and I remember wishing it was.

Smooth Emerald Milkshake

  The view from the top was just as amazing as last year, if not even better.  This December Bitches Brew, a classic WI5+, was fully formed across the valley.  Next year...

Bitches Brew

One of the other routes I had in mind for this trip was Broken Hearts.  We had heard the first four pitches were in fat, but the one that mattered was the fifth.  Only one way to find out!  Thinking back on all my climbs I cannot remember a single lead that was as slushy and baked as some of those lower pitches.  They all climbed great, but our early start and the single digit nights did nothing to prevent the ice from becoming mush.  Being a classic of the South Fork, there were tons of hooks and having slushy screws wasn't as scary as you would expect.  After the fourth pitch we continued up through many WI2-3 steps, working our way up towards the My Only Valentine fifth Pitch.  I was so stoked and eager I was literally running up the iced over creek bed.  And then there she was... a 30 foot cone... a 35 foot hanger... and 6-8 feet of air in between.  Might just have to return in February!

Pitches 5  Broken Hearts

The last two days of our trip were warm and sunny.  We took advantage of it and climbed on the south-facing side of the valley.  Some highlights of the rest of the trip were sketchy pro, busted ice dams and big old camp fires.  The sketchy pro is because I don't have a spectre.  A tool pounded into a crack in the Cody choss is bomber if you put a screamer on it right?  Maybe I'll bring my largest pecker next time.  And I'm talking my big wall pitons here! The busted ice dam is the largest I've ever encountered in over five years since I first started leading ice.  Lucky for me it was our last day and it didn't matter too much that I had wet feet for a few hours.  Lastly, we had cut all this wood... So of course we had to burn it all on the last night.  It was just a warm-up to what we have planned for bonfires during our trip up to the Canadian Rockies next month though.  Stay tuned for that.  

Pitch 1, Oh Be Joyful

And so it begins...

Ice season is upon us in Montana!  Well a little while ago it was anyway.  Right now its raining outside and temperatures have barely dropped below freezing in Hyalite for the past several days.  Snow is forecasted tonight and let's keep our fingers crossed that it stays cold enough to preserve the thin ice there is up in Hyalite.  So here's a recap of my early season ice hunting.  

First Sam Hennessey and I drove down to the Beartooth Mountains to climb Funeral for a Friend.  This route usually is one of the first to come in, being at 10,000 feet definitely has something to do what that!  The approach was pretty painless due to lack of substantial snow accumulation.  The climb itself was fat compared to what Sam and I were expecting.  While the climb wasn't overly challenging, spindrift and hard to protect ice shells often reminded us it was full on winter up high.  Regardless, the climbing and setting was incredibly aesthetic and my favorite start to an ice season yet.

Sam approaching Funeral for a Friend

On the approach, the climb is hidden around the left of the face

After our Funeral for a Friend adventure up into the Alpine, we decided to pick shorter approach for the next climb.  Colder temperatures had our hopes up for climbable ice in Hyalite so we ventured to the Unnamed Wall.  Nothing happening.  So off we went on one of the longer approaches in the Canyon and up to Twin Falls.  The single digit temps were even nice enough to treat me with the season's first dose of the barfies.

The ice just wasn't forming in Hyalite, so back to the Beartooths we went.  This time Sam and I picked Ice Dragons.  This climb sits high above East Rosebud Lake at just about 10,000 feet. And what an approach it had.  Seemingly endless boulderfields and about 2 feet of snow aren't the best combination. After many many times falling through the cracks and into the creek we reached the cirque containing our sought after climb.  Though the line was very appealing, large sluffs occasionally poured down the face.  Sam and I had a quick chat about things and since the route seemed surprisingly sheltered, we headed up.  The climb was pretty much opposite of our last Beartooth route, with thin brittle ice rather than the dripping and fat (for early season) ice found on Funeral.  Furthermore Ice Dragons is the most prominent ice feature in the whole cirque, much unlike the hidden gem of Funeral for a Friend.  Regardless, the climb was spectacular in both its setting and how it climbed.  We stopped at the end of the ice. My legs were still tired from the approach and slightly fearing the boulderfield descent, so no easy mixed finish for us.  A few v-threads, some better route finding through the boulders and we made it back to the car in less than half the time for approaching.  Car to car in 13.5 hours.  Unfortunately California Ice was in the dark on both side of our day climbing.  Next time!

Ice Dragons

Looking back down towards East Rosebud Lake on the descent

While this winter is off to a slow start compared to last year, every cloud has its silver lining.  With good ice early last year in Hyalite I never had the desire to trek into the Beartooths.  I'm sure glad I did this year though.  Now let's hope for cold temps up in Hyalite!

Quick, one more rock climb before it snows!

Headed up to Gallatin Canyon for some easy rock before it snows.  I just returned to Montana from visiting the folks back east and luckily it was still warm enough for some rock climbing up in the canyon.  Jane came along to climb her first ever multi-pitch rock and we picked out the classic Skyline Arete.  By the top she was loving it, but the first bit in the shade and wind was rather unpleasant she tells me.  Sounds like time we start hoping for some ice!