Beartooths BC skiing; Project X(?)

One of the lower hanging fruits of Beartooth back country skiing is a couloir called Project X (I have also heard it called Professor X, Super Couloir, Lake Couloir, Pencil Couloir) up East Rosebud. Its about as straight forward, in your face as it gets. I made it up to the rock band but didnt take it to the summit plateau (which Im sure it goes). A little taller and longer than it looks! But thats the Beartooths for ya.

I mean, if youre a skier and that doesnt scream "ski me" than I dont know what does.

Chamonix Couloir in the distance.

California Ice

My truck is on the far side of the lake.

Hyalite Ice: Upper GreenSleeves

Merilee, Manfred and I found an afternoon to enjoy some amazing spring break weather so we scurried up Hyalite for some ice climbing. I figured (correctly) that Upper GreenSleeves would be in the shade and have good ice, plus Merilee had never been. The crux of this route is always simply getting to the ice. Which we did, eventually. I led it, left the screws and Merilee pink pointed it (climbed it with pre-placed gear). We had to leave because I had tickets to the G.Love show at the Rialto!

Merilee heading up.

Hyalite Ice: Bingo Cave; New Route 'Shamrock Monkeys'

I noticed that the Bingo Cave ice curtain was really building up thick on the non-traditionally forming left side. So much ice that two new flows/daggers appeared below the lip of the cave. I checked out where the left most route exited the cave to the ice and wouldnt you know it, I had found a new route! Bull Dog world finishes at least 10ft to the right of my line. I returned with my drill after work one day and bolted up to the ice. I used the same first bolt as Bull Dog but added 4 newbies beyond it. I came back to climb it with Jack T later that week. I gave it a go, no luck but I finished the cleaning and got the tick marks all done. Jack made a great effort but had to sit on a bolt or two. He was able to get to the ice however and pushed the route to the top where he installed a chain anchor. I came back the next day, St. Patrick's Day, with Kyler. I gave it a go and got the draws hung but didnt make it. Kyler, like a boss, sent it onsight! Onsight meaning he had zero knowledge of the route and had never tried it. I followed with a hang dog on one bolt and again once I got to the ice. I almost made it to the ice without sitting. Shamrock Monkeys M8 20M 5 bolts was born this day.

These two flows either never form, or never form this big. Im not really sure.

You can barely see my rope running up to the ice. The last bolt is up high in between the two ice daggers.

Kyler on top post Onsight send!

Tate D. quickly repeated the route to the ice but stopped here.

The Cottonmouth (Ice climb)

Matt and I had plans to go to Hyalite but when we got to the dam, the road was closed. The heavy machinery operators were not sure when they would get it opened so we changed gears and drove to Middle Cottonwood. We couldnt reach the TH so we walked an extra couple of miles round trip but walking on roads is easy. I was actually able to show Matt a chunk of ice he had never even heard of before! Its short and sweet but worth knowing about. I led it first, then Matt.

Hyalite Ice: Unnamed Wall New Dry Tool Routes

I huffed a bolting kit up to the Unnamed wall with a certain route in mind but while I was traversing the cliff over to the target, I noticed a sweet little less-than-vertical cliff of relatively bomber rock that could host a couple of dry tool routes so I started here instead. This is the cliff/wall immediately climber's right of Magically Delicious. I bolted two 15M routes: Borborygmus (scientific term for stomach rumble) D(ry) or M5 8 bolts to chain anchor (left route) and Discoteca D or M5 9 bolts to the same shared chain anchor. Matt Cornell was my partner for the day. These routes are really fun but technical enough to keep you moving slowly and deliberately.

Matt post FA send of Discoteca.

My line post FA send of Borborygmos.

Fort Peck Ice Fishing

We made it to Fort Peck this year! After last year's weather debacle and the bad ice all the way through January this year, it was looking like we might strike out again. Luckily, some really freaking cold weather showed up and stayed for weeks creating tons of ice on the reservoir. Fourchette ice was still a little unknown so we went somewhere new, Crooked Creek. Crooked Creek marina also had cabins to rent so we left the campers at home. We left town before the Snowmageddon of 2019 hit western Montana and got back right after it was over. Between my Dad, Jeff, Travis and I, we caught a few fish. My holes were pretty slow this year but I still managed to pull a couple of pike through the ice. We really only caught one big fish which was my dad's at 39.5" 18lbs. The high tmep one day was -12 so the funky weather definitely through off the fishing.

We were literally on the edge of the storm. I have never seen such a striking, perfectly straight line all the way across the sky like we got to witness.

Slow cooked wieners.

The bottle of Makers Mark made for some good stories!

The big fish.

The snow hampered our ability to really explore this new area.

Freezer meat.

Crooked Creek meeting the main Missouri river channel.

Cody WY; South Fork Ice: Too Cold to Fire, Mean Green

Usually Im ice fishing president's day weekend but this year found me down in Cody ice climbing with my good friends Lucas and Bailey. We showed about noon on a Saturday with just enough time to climb Too Cold to Fire WI4. We solo'd the approach pitches and I led the main pitch. This was a fantastic climb that I have tried to climb pretty much every trip I have taken to Cody. This year, the approach pitches were in and fat! I took a pretty good chunk of ice to the helmet and expected to find a crack upon inspection but I guess I got lucky!
Sunday we got a fashionably late start (very common theme with me) to the Mean Green 5 pitches WI4. It was a beautiful day but very cold. Luckily, a party of 3 was ahead of us cleaning off the ice and putting in the boot pack! Early bird doesnt always get the worm! I led every pitch but the final, easy, namesake pitch; my partners were cold and done. Time to get back to camp and start a bonfire!

Thats me dragging a rope through the approach pitches. Main pitch is above me to the right.

Here we go!

All smiles on top.

Photo Booth time!

Bailey rapping. 

Mean Green is the big main gully in the middle of the pic.

Crossing the Shoshone river.

Approaching pitch 1 and 2.

Me rope gunning on P1.

P4 crux pitch.

We kept a fire that big for a really long time.