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Friday, December 11, 2015

Potential New Ice route in Hyalite (Treasure Hunter)

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!
Why getting up early is always worth it. 
Sunrise over Hyalite Reservoir.
My DJ booth for the 2015 Bozeman Ice Fest Speed Climbing Competition.

Pitch one; a couple of laps would clear that snow and make for a great easy top rope climb. 
A bad pic of the bottom half of P2
Another bad pic, this time of the upper half of P2
Getting close to P3.

The right side of P3, WI4 on the left and WI3 on the right.
Theres the WI5 curtain.



That rainbow colored ice on top was the hint that got me to walk all the way up here. So glad I did!



Its not a slot canyon, more like a hallway. Sam and I on the return from the send of the WI5 section.
Photos from Devin: Me leading the right side of P3.


We set up a TR over the spicy section.

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