Monthly Archives: December 2012

Elves

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(I’m behind on posting, welcome to catching up on the adventure)

A few weeks ago I met some people at the Bozeman Ice Festival that really know how to have fun.  Despite going to Australia this week (oh yeah, didn’t see that coming did you?),  a spontaneous visit to Salt Lake City was on order for Christmas weekend.  A huge thank you to Sarah, Peter, and Brit for being amazing hosts.  While Salt Lake is known for Mormons and the Wasatch front, elves are apparently a big deal too:

Cousins Peter and Brit show off the latest fashions.

Cousins Peter and Brit show off the latest fashions (exterior door shown for scale).

I rolled in on Saturday afternoon, and after a quick hike to check on ice climbing conditions, Sarah and I joined in the Santa pub-crawl mayhem.

Well... someone needed to step up and be Pimp Santa.

Well… someone needed to step up and be Pimp Santa.

Despite a great outfit, I bailed on the pub crawl relatively early with thoughts of ice climbing on my mind.  The ice was surprisingly poorly formed and thin, and while Sarah and I ticked 3 of 4 pitches on “The Great White Icicle” (WI 3, 4p), eventually my judgement won over, and we headed for Brit’s hot tub and a fun little jam session with a few other folks.

Thinner than it looked.

Thinner than it looked.

Sarah isn’t as into backcountry skiing as I am, but fortunately she’s got some great friends.  Matt C, Hasen, Tyler, and Matt X, thanks so much for letting me join the fun.  It was dumping powder in the Wasatch, and while that pushed us on lower angle slopes, we still had an amazing day of skiing.  Sarah had lunch on the table when we rolled home, and suddenly my cello was in hand while Matt C sang Talking Heads.

Doing due diligence in the avy pit.

Doing due diligence in the avy pit.

Sweetness.

Sweetness.

Christmas Eve finished cooking a stellar meal with Sarah, then a small gathering of friends hosted by one of her former professors.

My drive home featured dry roads, and clear skies, so the hours passed quickly. Even with all of the outdoor sports centered in Salt Lake, I’ve spent very little time there.  With friends like these, I suspect I’ll be back soon.

Somewhere south of Dillon, MT.

Somewhere south of Dillon, MT.

Festival

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“We seek festival community because our own communities are dead.”  (Nizlopi)

It’s both true and false- Missoula is a vibrant mountain community with a fairly quiet crew of ice climbers.  Fair to say, the Bozeman Ice Festival brings us to life, and I was excited to have friends from Missoula to share one of my favorite places with.  While I missed the festival last year, it seemed like JoJo and the regular crew really stepped up to take the Bozeman Festival to the next level.  The only problem was, with everyone wanting to join the fun, open climbs were a little illusive…

Saturday.

Saturday.

Full of stoke, Conor D. and I got after it Saturday morning, only to find 18 people in line for Champagne Sherbet and Champagne Slot (which are both forming nicely).  So we hiked.  A lot.  Finally we gave up on finding some more elusive climbs and headed for the Genesis.  Some top rope laps at G1 left us feeling like we had at least done something, and we followed the festival down the canyon as the light faded.

This years festival included a Saturday night party built around an outdoor mixed competition at the Emerson center.  Credit to Marko P., Craig P., and many others for construction and route setting.  Complete with outdoor firepits, live music, and beer vendors, Saturday night was a very good time.

crushing

Stephanie Maureau- climbs harder than almost all the boys- crushing it.

mixedcomp

Bozeman hardman Whit Magro straddling a free handing log 50′ up and 20′ across the overhanging traverse.

Sunday Conor and I linked up with a few other Missoula boys (Cole, Josh, Mack, and Cory) and took over the amplitheater.  I’m still a terrible mixed climber, and was just as happy for Conor to put up the rope on the mixed line just left of “Thin Chance” (which was in, but a little thin for my shaky lead head).  We did both lines, then a lap on Climbs on the Left- by no means a banner day, but I really don’t mind easing back into ice season.

Conor, getting pumped.

Conor, getting pumped.

Lots to remember.

Lots for me to remember.

Sunday night I felt fortunate to be invited to dinner with a few new friends who work for Grivel North America.  It might have been more prudent to head for Missoula on Sunday night, but these connections are one of the reasons it’s so fun to come to a festival.  We enjoyed perfect conversation over perfect food, and my week has felt a little richer because my circle of connections in this strange frozen circle is just a little larger.  The additional time was well worth the speedy drive back on Monday morning.

This place is always spectacular.

This place is always spectacular.

 

 

 

 

Telling

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Despite a dismal forecast on Saturday, I coerced Ky into heading out to check on ice conditions in Finley Creek, just north of Missoula.  Last year, this area provided an important training ground for getting regular time on my tools.  It’s been really warm this fall and while I was hoping the north aspect would hold at least semi-formed climbs, I really wasn’t sure what to expect.  The photos tell it all-

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The black streak is where the GrainEater is supposed to be- taken yesterday December 2, 2012.

This is the GrainEater in early season, but fully climbable conditions- taken Nov. 27, 2011.

This was taken from the same vantage point (approximately), on Nov. 27, 2011.  While this is thin compared to what the climb would be, it was fully climbable at this point in the season last year.

There was almost no trace of ice in Finley Creek on Sunday- a few wisps of ice hinted at the location of the climbs, but nothing that even resembled a “route”.  It seems reasonable to say that we are 3-4 weeks behind last season in route growth.  We spent most of our time hiking in a 40 degree rain storm.  Ski conditions are marginal, and “unseasonably warm” almost seems like a misnomer because it’s hard to be sure what season we are actually in.  It sure seems like the planet is telling us something.

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Several hundred vertical feet and a two miles up the canyon we finally found some semblence of winter, but only barely. I made it to the lake in trail running shoes.

Whether or not there is ice in the hills around Missoula in December isn’t alone an indicator of climate change- I won’t pretent that for a minute, but with plenty of other evidence around, it seems plausible there might be some connection to my little backyard ice playground.  The lack of societal concern about climate change is thoroughly frightening to me.

Last night I saw a I saw a short piece from the Rachel Maddow show that aired just after the elections last month (really, click the link).  I couldn’t agree with her more.  For all the junk science, and political posturing we’ve been exposed to, and which I’ll try not to propagate here, I think she hits the nail on the head- “There are real problems in the world. There are real knowable facts in the world. Let’s accept those and talk about how we might approach our problems differently. Let’s move on from there.”

(Ed. note- This was not the post that I had aspirations of writing, but I wanted to get the photos up.  More on this train of thought hopefully later this week)