I got the idea to walk up this hillside while climbing Slight of Hand. I thought I could see some ice poking through the snow that might be worth a visit. So Wednesday morning I cruised up to the East Fork and went for a little walk by myself. I turned right where you normally go left for Slight of Hand and quickly came upon a pitch of easy WI2 ~30m tall and solo'd it. I bushwhacked around in the trees and alders at the top looking for old anchors but I didnt find any. Above pitch 1 is a gully and the obvious source of water for the ice. A short walk up the gully, still wearing my crampons, I encountered another pitch of WI2 ~40m long! This one is less desirable and full of alders and branches; I might go clean it out but Im not sure about the ethics of cleaning shrubbery for route exposure in Hyalite. I believe its ok but I want to make sure. I removed my spikes at the top of P2 and continued up the gully incredibly anxious about what I might find. And my goodness did I find something! Completely hidden in a little slot canyon at ~8k ft I found the money pitch. It has 3 variations to the top; WI5, WI4 and WI3 all 60m long! Pure ice! I couldnt believe it! If this is a first ascent, its a spectacular find! Since nobody knew where I was and I didnt want to solo the WI5 variation (the biggest best line up there) I headed back to the truck all smiles. I could have solod the easier stuff but just incase it is/was an FA, I wanted to do it in the best style. I returned the next day with Sam and lead the WI5 curtain without issue and made it to work in time for an 11:30am meeting. I returned for a third day in a row, this time with Devin and his buddy from C.Falls John, to try and push the route higher. I spied some ice even higher up that I thought could be a fourth pitch so Devin, John and I climbed the WI3 variation to the top and walked up the hill a ways. We found ice but nothing worthy. We lapped the WI5 curtain before I had to take off. They went to Slight of Hand and I went to town to get ready to DJ the speed comp at the ice fest that night. DJing a world cup event was a pretty special thing for my young DJ career!
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Why getting up early is always worth it. |
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Sunrise over Hyalite Reservoir. |
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My DJ booth for the 2015 Bozeman Ice Fest Speed Climbing Competition. |
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Pitch one; a couple of laps would clear that snow and make for a great easy top rope climb. |
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A bad pic of the bottom half of P2 |
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Another bad pic, this time of the upper half of P2 |
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Getting close to P3. |
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The right side of P3, WI4 on the left and WI3 on the right. |
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Theres the WI5 curtain. |
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That rainbow colored ice on top was the hint that got me to walk all the way up here. So glad I did! |
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Its not a slot canyon, more like a hallway. Sam and I on the return from the send of the WI5 section. |
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Photos from Devin: Me leading the right side of P3. |
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We set up a TR over the spicy section. |
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