Pipestone Bouldering

I was lucky enough to win tickets to a Trampled By Turtles and The Devil Makes 3 at the Big Sky Brewery in Missoula so Manfred and I found ourselves pulling the gypsy wagon down the road to Zoo town. After an awesome show and a not-so-awesome hangover, I arrived in Pipestone to break up the drive home. I got a great afternoon bouldering session in on some boulders McAlpine and friends cleaned several years ago. I hesitate (as always) to claim any first ascents on these boulders. We did, however, remove some shrubbery and rocks exposing previously unclimbable (to most folks) lines. The gem, which we named the Chinese Mr.Potato Head Boulder (now commonly referred to as the Potato Head Boulder) was hard then and remains that way now. I awoke the next day in a slight panic because not only was it extremely smoky but I could smell fire. It turns out that the crazy lightning storm I drove through the afternoon prior started some fires right there on Homestake pass. I thought I was going to be hopping in the truck and driving for my life to outrun the fire! But it never showed up and I got another great morning of bouldering accomplished.

Genesis Boulder, Unmasked Boulder, Potato Head Boulder

Potato Head Boulder is about 15ft tall. The face is a textbook 'problem'. I sent it in 2011 but couldnt get it this trip.

And they call this place the desert....

This photo is kinda cool just because of the sky; its on fire to the left and blue sky to the right with ominous clouds. 

My morning warm-up boulder. All of these have names but I dont remember them. We had nothing to do with developing these (Mastodon area).

A fun, blankish, hard open book.

If this isnt called the Morel Boulder it should be!

The book calls the hidden offwidth a 5.9 that stops a ways short of the top. I used the offwidth to gain the tips crack and proceeded to scare the s*** out of me topping out. I estimate its atleast 22ft tall. Bad landing, no fall zone.

The super classic Mastodon crack.  This one gets up there a ways too but the climbing gets easier the higher you get.