One of my favorite snowboard descents of all time

I recently returned from Coachella and I brought a bad experience and bad attitude home. This was my 3rd consecutive year attending but this was the first time I had a negative experience over all. One way for a guy like me to wipe-the-slate clean is rigorous exercise, to sweat it out. I despise 'going to the gym' or 'training' and havnt for almost 10 years because anything you can find indoors, you can find outdoors. Anything you need to find anyway. It just might require a little extra creativity to find it and god forbid you have to wear a warm jacket and nobody sees you doing it. Therefore, I loaded up the gypsy wagon with my ski gear and my dog and took off for a solo weekend in one of MTs greatest road accessed areas; East Rosebud. I have spent many a night there and hope I have many more. There is a well known ski called the Chamonix couloir that is supposedly an epic descent and I had to check it out for myself. Luckily, I got a relatively late start to the day because the two guys that started an hour and a half before me put in a real nice boot pack up to the point that I caught them (about half way up). All three of us then swapped leads to break trail. Over 50% of the entire climb was post holing. Not just walking through waist deep snow but laying your ski poles on top of the snow, leaning forward on your hands and poles and crawling on your shins because the snow was too deep and powdery to get any purchase. We left a tunnel in the snow, not so much foot prints. The TH is at 6,200' and the top is 11,000'. Over 4,000' of that was incredible winter conditions powder skiing (when I say ski I really mean snowboarding). It took me 5 hours to reach the top and an hour to get back to the truck. Thats one of the big reasons I love ski mountaineering; the return trip takes a tiny fraction of the ascent time. I got back to the gypsy wagon in time to open a bottle of Bordeaux and wet a fly line. The brookies are biting. If there is one way to get your sweat on, go climb some snow in the Beartooths. Lord knows I got the attitude adjustment I was seeking!

I have one attempt on the famous California Ice. Ill get it some day.

The ice flow was in much fatter conditions than a ear ago January when Devin and I tried to climb it.

A couloir is like a gully that splits a rocky peak or cliff.

The previous days storm loaded the couloir full of soft cold snow. Here I am in one of the easy-to-hike sections. The early birds are up in the constriction.

So here is a good pic of how deep the snow was. So deep and cold that there isnt really even a trail behind the leader.

Man was I ready to get to this high point.

Probably the worst name for a beer ever, but probably one of the best beers ever. No there is no THC in it.

Guys with beards always have the most fun on powder days.

What does paradise look like?

Found a really nice knife in the river while I was fishing.

Beach bummin

Three other reasons why I venture here.

Rock Climbing in the Village (Moose Rock) and Revenue Flats

Its rock climbing season, albeit early. This time of year Im either rock climbing or back country skiing big lines. My roommate Megan wanted to do some rock climbing so off to the Village we went, gypsy wagon in tow. Sam, Megan, Manfred and I had a fun day climbing on Moose Rock which has 4 very fun and easy routes. After which we got to watch Dan D. play some music at the Gravel Bar. The forecast for Sunday was not encouraging so we stayed in low commitment mode and climbed in Revenue Flats on some of the easier stuff. The sun and snow were in a constant battle but we still got 4 routes done. Its pretty hard to drive by Norris when you have been climbing in the cold so we made a pit stop before cruising home.

Moose Rock.

So vicious!

Sam helping Megan out on Deaf Moose.

This is one of the Wafers in Revenue Flats.

A cache trip to the Village and an Allenspur quickie

Chomping at the bit to get started on the Village this season, Manfred and I hauled the cache out to the Rolling Ramp. Im fresh out of hangers so it will be just scouting and crack cleaning for a little while. I fixed a rope on the Church boulder to try and work on my highball V8-10(?) problem that has been haunting my dreams since I found it 6 or 7 season ago. Its just too overhanging to not have someone belay you up and lower you. I tried attaching the rope to the bottom of the boulder as well as the top to hold me close enough but the climbing is too dynamic for a grigri and just doesnt work. So I tucked my tail all the way to Norris hotsprings.
Sam found some time Sunday afternoon to go out to Allenspur for some sport climbing. Sam lead Look Ma No Hands 5.8, the one right next to it 5.9(?) and the first pitch of another climb 5.8(?). I got to top rope the first two.

This monster tongue of a rock used to be a teeter totter up on the boulder behind it with a perfect pivot point midway. The end closest to us was about 4-5ft off the ground. I was rocking it when the pivot point broke and the whole thing lurched forward and fell down! I was able to ride it like a surfboard for a split second before I bailed on the boulder behind it. Thank god Manfred was sleeping over in the sunshine!

Such a pretty place to climb, Allenspur.

A Bridger and Spire Rock kind of weekend

An old friend and roommate from college, Tim, came to town for a ski weekend. His friend also named Tim accompanied him and along with Sam and I and we spent Saturday crushing what was left of Bridger. It got up to 60 on the hill but the sky was overcast all day so the snow actually skied pretty good.
Avoiding the cost of Big Sky, Sam, Manfred and I gambled on the weather and went out to Pipestone with the hopes of climbing a route we both have been wanting to do for a long time: The White Line 5.8 on Spire Rock. The Tims went up to Big Sky for more skiing. Sam actually lead the first pitch of Aerial Book and built his first trad anchor at the base of the second pitch of White Line's epic dihedral (a much more appealing start if you ask me). I cruised up the second pitch a whistling and a smiling and just having a ball on my first rock climb of the year. We rapped the top pitch and set up a top rope over some climbs just to the right of White Line. I top roped The Royal We 5.10d cleanly then Sam climbed Time Warp 5.11a but it took him a couple of tries to figure out the crux. I also tried Time Warp and almost got it but had to sit once at the crux. I mentioned earlier that we had been gambling on the weather and the gamble paid off until I got back on the ground from Time Warp. We were in warm sunshine most of the day even though we drove through a pretty good rain storm on the way there. Eventually the rain cloud that had been 100yds away all day reached us and it was time to go. It was a deluge back in Bozeman.

Sam, Me, Tim (from college), Tim

The route goes straight up above Manfred.

Pine Creek Ice: Blue and Green Gully

Coming off a strong day in Hyalite, Sam, Manfred and I decided to give Pine Creek a shot. I have climbed Green Gully (WI3) before but I have never linked it with its neighbor Blue Gully. Green Gully is easy to underestimate, both the approach and the climb. You can see it from the trail after very little walking and the damn thing is tall! I lead it cleanly but my hands were excited for me to top out and belay Sam up. We only had a single 70m rope so we had to build a v-thread, aka abalakov, about 35m from the top and rappel twice. We traversed south a couple hundred yards to Blue Gully (WI2?) and Sam lead it without much ado. We were pleasantly surprised to have the place to ourselves all afternoon.

Green Gully. Sometimes its very green colored.

Blue Gully.

Manfred kept the wolves and bears at bay while we played.

Paradise Valley.

Hyalite Ice: Scepter and Mummy 2

So life really got in the way of my February climbing but whats a guy to do? I finally (!) got back on ice after over 4 weeks with zero climbs. I was feeling strong for some reason and went straight to a climb I had never done before called the Scepter. Its normally a WI5 climb but we found it in pretty easy but sustained WI4 conditions. I lead it without much difficulty and Sam got to top rope. We moved immediately right and Sam lead Mummy 2 (WI 2-4) while I got to top rope a couple of laps. It was a really nice day and we got to bs with a local guide that we tend to bump in to around the country at different climbing destinations.

Sam at the base of the Scepter.

Scepter on the left and Mummy 2 on the right.

Sam getting another lap on M2.

Fat conditions.

Fort Peck Ice Fishing

Its been a while since I have posted anything; life happened. However, the Fort Peck trip still took place and many more memories were made. We had a crew this year: Tim, Jeff, Ed, Cory, Greg, Greg's buddy (sorry I forgot your name already), Dana, Sam and I. We had tip ups everywhere and it didnt take long to find fish. We arrived at camp Thursday afternoon and were landing fish before the sun went down. Even though it was 70* when we showed up, the ice was more than good. EXCEPT for one little spot (foreshadowing). We all knew it was there and had successfully avoided it for a couple of days until Fort Peck bit back. Three people at once went swimming. They were fishing close to a crick running in to the bay which was melting the ice from below creating some open water and thin ice. Night time is not a good time to be out on the ice. You can be fishing the same spot on Fort Peck for multiple days but still get turned around when the sun goes down. And thats pretty much what happened. Sam, Dana and I got back from the main lake Saturday evening only to find a camp full of wet guys. We loaded up everything needed for 4-wheeler retrieval and headed right back out. I should have earned a new nickname "Mr.Clutch" because when I went out to the edge of the ice with a whitewater rescue throw bag and threw it, I failed to hold on to the other end and the whole kit and caboodle went out in to the water. Big oops. Luckily we had a couple of them so we were able to grappling hook two of the wheelers back on to the ice leaving one for the morning. Four wheelers float. I have been part of 4 retrievals and they were all floating ass up. Sunday morning Dana volunteered to wade out to the last wheeler to wrap a rope around it. I think it was only 2-3 feet deep but ice cold nonetheless. The 'old guys' had had their fill of fishing excitement and spent the rest of the day cleaning fish and loading up camp. They, as well as Dana who had been there for a week now, took off Monday morning but not before Sam noticed our (his uncle's) buggy leaking a lot of oil. We used one of the remaining buggies that stayed dry to ride the 7(?) miles out to where we were fishing to retrieve all of our gear. Once everyone had departed, Sam and I fished off the boat ramp for a day before we came back. All in all the ice was great, the fishing steady but the swimmers kind of put a damper on things (theres a good pun for ya!). Dont worry, we'll be back next year but with a few new rules we need to be following. Sadly, the big fish trophies were in one of the buggies that got wet and we lost them to the murky depths. Dana got the big Walleye and I think my dad got the big pike?

The first fish. Sticks make them feel huge!

~15lbs

A custom cooler on the ice.

A drinking game I invented called Skibby's Holes. Ask me for details.

We threw a bunch of fish away but kept a few. Catfish are rare to catch and we caught 3 in two days!

Our bay was covered with tens of thousands of these things. 16 years in a row out there and I have never seen anything like it.

Its fishing, not catching.

We fished from camp when our wheeler broke down.

Charlie Russel sunrise.

Waiting for a flag.

A small channel catfish.

A 14.5lb catfish!

Its a team effort out there.