"Ice, Wind, & Sky" WI4/5, 3,800'

Erik Johnson and I jumped right back into Montana winter (from a quick stint in Indian Creek) with an ascent of "ice, wind, & sky". I.W. & S. is the continuation of the classic "California Ice" (WI4/5) located in the East Rosebud of Montana. We broke trail up new snow to the base of Cali ice, climbed the 3 long (60m) pitches, then broke left at the top of the third pitch into the I.W. & S gully. Upon entering this interesting gully we simul-climbed the remaining 1,000 feet to the plateau climbing quality moderate ice with some character building snow slogging to keep us honest. We topped out the plateau then descended into spread creek back to the truck, about 12 hours later. Ice, wind, & sky is by far the best way to top California ice out (having done both top outs now) it entails at least 90 more meters of good ice climbing in a spectacular setting and grants about 4,000' of ascending total!

Cheers, Loren


California Ice and the top of "Ice, Wind, and Sky" in the upper left. (Photo By Erik Johnson)


The first 2 pitches of California Ice


Myself at the top of the California ice headwall (Photo by Erik Johnson)


The upper pitches of "Ice, Wind, & Sky"


And then the ice just ends. ice, wind, and sky indeed.


This pretty much sums up the descent


Erik Johnson... international man of mystery


we are claiming the first recorded mustache ascent of the route

Indian Creek

Montana can dish out some long winters and this season was no exception. The only remedy for these brutal winters is to grab some rock gear, flip-flops, and fill the gas tank to full.
A rather large group of us headed down to southern Utah to enjoy 9 days of sunny bliss; no ice screws, no cell service, and miles of dazzling red cliffs split every meter by the most perfect cracks on Earth. Here are some pictures of the trip.

Cheers, Loren









Super crack... lives up to the hype


Bridget enjoying the Super crack


Erik Hayes becoming "Way Rambo"










Chris Hayes tapping into his inner "Big Guy"


myself on just another 3 star unnamed perfect crack


Bridget leading "Wavy Gravy"


Summit of South Six Shooter, and a strange pictograph




Matt Welles on "Ruby's Cafe"


"learning to Crawl" Bridger Jack spires




we topped out Thumbelina spire just as Erik Hayes and Rick Dvorak topped out the Sparkling touch spire.




Bridget Cruising the last pitch of Easter Island Spire


We found Hulk Hogan A.K.A. Erik Johnson on the summit






Scott Salzer determining that the desert life is a good life

Cody Ice Fest 2011

Cody Ice fest was a really fun grassroots event. It was my first time at the event and I was impressed by the hard work of all involved (namely Don Foote et al.). We started the trip by bouldering in the sun on Cedar Mountain, then spent the next 2 days on ice.

Cheers, Loren


You know you're in Wyoming when...






Bridget on "Home on the range"






me looking like a fool on "electric nachos"




Kevin chopping fire wood the old fashioned way




Bridget on the beautiful "Sendero Illuminoso"


Ben (a climber we met from Colorado) on Sendero Illuminoso


Thanks for the picture Colorado crew!

Beartooth "shenanigans"

2. Silly or high-spirited behavior; mischief.


Erik Johnson and I escaped for a very quick trip to the Beartooth mountains yesterday. We left Bozeman early (we were going to leave at 6:00am but I slept through my alarm, waking only after Erik was standing outside knocking on my door and calling me repeatedly on the phone); this was the first shenanigan of the day.
After finally waking up we drove the couple of hours to the east rosebud valley and parked under crow mountain, and a mixed line that I had spied last year. We grabbed our packs and tried crossing the river. About half way across on very thin ice Erik punched through and soaked his boots/socks/pants from the knees down. Shenanigan number 2. Thankfully there was an extra pair of socks in my truck and Erik had brought a light weight pair of "extra" boots. Erik changed into dry boots and we walked down the river to a better crossing point.
Hiking up to the base of the climb was a pain. The soft snow, loose boulders, and downed timber made progress tedious but we finally reached the base of the route around noon as the wind groaned through the dead trees. We anticipated a short pillar of ice leading to a overhanging granite face that might require bolts for protection. As we looked at the upper face it was obvious that it would take gear (and plenty of it). I decided to sack up and try it onsight.
I climbed the short pillar (25') to a good rest and beautiful gear placements. The rock headwall was composed of a slightly overhanging dihedral with a torque crack in the back. I sewed this crack up and drytooled past the overhang to a good rest, then passed a second overhang at the top, groveling on the slab topout I thought I was going to take a huge fall! Somehow I teetered to the end of the difficulties and slung a giant dead tree. Erik climbed it next, cleaning HUGE blocks of granite by accident (now the route should be safe).
We looked around the "new" FRA? mixed climb and discovered many more possibilties for hard, traditional mixed routes. This small crag has potential!
By now it was getting late so we hoofed it out to truck norris, staying dry over the river crossing. Erik then lead Hellroaring falls in the dwindling light, we decended the trail in blackness, drove to the Cowboy and ate giant burgers.
Up on gaining the Bozeman pass a snowstorm struck and the road turned icy, there were cars in the ditch, upside down, every few miles. We creaked back to Bozeman at 25mph arriving around midnight.

We decided to name the route "Shenanigans" (FRA?) due to the sillyness of the day. It is about M5 in difficulty (25 meters long)and protects very well with cams (to 3"). It is located about 1/4 mile past the bridge (where the road turns to gravel again) and is on a gray cliffband to the east (crow mountain). about 1/4 way up the mountain.

cheers, Loren




(If anyone wants to go climb the other harder mixed routes on the cliff band go for it!)

A bit of ice

Anti duct


A scary looking "sand dune falls"

I finally managed to get out climbing the last few weeks. Nothing to extreme, just really good fun.

Bridget and I went to the West rosebud valley and climbed the "Antiduct" a beautiful WI5 ice climb in a neat setting. We were rewarded with great views, sticky ice, and fun climbing. We also went to the East rosebud and did the approach to "Sand Dune falls", an awesome pillar. When we got to the base we found that it had recently collapsed and was reforming, we sat in the sun beneath the pillar for a bit then headed to Redlodge for food. It was a fun, well-needed, trip.

I also had the chance to climb an all time classic Hyalite pitch called "Black Magic" with K-bone and Lawrence. It's an old Alex Lowe route that climbs a steep crack to a thin and steep section of ice; it's roughly 5.10-, WI5 and protects with natural gear. The lead was a difficult one for me, I am wicked out of shape and have never been that pumped before! All in all it was a awesome climb.


myself on Black Magic


Black Magic

Hopefully soon I'll have a few more posts up about some Beartooth adventures in the works.

cheers, Loren

Natural Ice Fall in Respect to Tree Density and Damage

I have to do a study on Rocky Mountain Vegetation for a college class this semester. I tried my hardest to combine climbing with the project, and it was a success. Here is a preliminary write-up of the paper. I'm sure there are errors all over it (and all the numbers and statistics have been removed for clarity). Maybe a few of you out there will think this is interesting.

Cheers, Loren


Natural Ice Fall in Respect to Tree Density and Damage
Loren Rausch
Bio 408, fall semester 2010
Introduction

Hyalite canyon, Montana, contains an abundant wealth of natural waterfall ice and is internationally recognized as a destination area for ice climbers (Josephson, 2002). Many of the ice climbs reside on cliffs located in a forest environment under the control of Gallatin National Forest (USFS). Throughout the winter months (October through April) the ice pouring off the cliffs forms into massive features weighing many tons; these features detach from the cliff face sporadically throughout the year and fall into the forest below. Previous information on tree density and damage caused by falling ice in this fashion is unknown. The results determined from Hyalite canyon suggests that tree density is affected by falling ice and the resulting damage is easily observable. This suggests that the study sites are constantly under disturbance and never reach climax vegetation in their respective microclimates.

Methods

The ten sites described in this paper were evaluated based on two main determinants. The first determinant was that the disturbance beneath the ice climb was caused primarily by falling ice only. This site was found to the south-west of the grotto falls trailhead in Hyalite canyon. The cliff is a natural basalt cliff band which has weathered slower than its superior and inferior strata. The cliff and ice falls contained are locally referred to as “the unnamed wall” (Josephson, 2002). While there were many other sites to choose from, the unnamed wall was chosen because it was not affected by natural avalanches and natural rock fall is at a minimum. The second determinant for the study was choosing ten sites where the vegetation met the assumptions of statistics (normal population {not previously logged}, variances in population are equal, and random samples)(Weaver, 2002). Ten sites were chosen in total and at random based on the above determinants. Five of the sites were chosen and described along the trail just below the ice climbs (but not affected by them) in the same general environment type (climate) and altitude as the remaining five disturbed sites. The disturbed sites were chosen in relation to where the ice tends to form on an annual basis. These sites have local names and are called; “Jeff’s Left”, “Jeff’s Right”, “The good looking one”, “Bingo world”, “The Thrill is gone”, and “The itchy and scratchy show” (Josephson, 2002). These climbs were further chosen due to the lack of a significant avalanche path below the ice climbs (the falling ice acting as a trigger on the snowpack and releasing large scale avalanches). These “ice triggered” avalanches cause large scale damage below the ice climbs beyond the parameters intended for this study. All ten sites were measured in a plot system of 30m x 30m.

NO STATISTICAL RESULTS ON THE BLOG, SORRY.

Results

The results of figure 1 suggest a vast difference between disturbed (from falling ice) and undisturbed sites (ie. For a sample size of 5 any t-value greater than 2.8 is significant). Figure 2 suggests that there is also a significant difference between disturbed and undisturbed sites (ie. For a sample size of 5 any t-value greater than 2.8 is significant). The objective of this study was not concerned with the parameters of species (associations) in relation to composition; however a simple explanation of species in relation to the study sites is relevant. The predominant trees present in the study sites were, Pseudotsuga menziemanii and Abies lasiocarpa. Other Species noticed included maple trees, Rosa woodsii, and Juniperus horizontalis (Weaver, 2002) (Plate I, figure 1,2: Plate II, figure, 12,3, &4).

Conclusion
The results suggest that the affects of ice falling each winter from selected sites cause a disturbance that is statistically significant in two parameters. The first parameter is related to tree density, and the second is tree damage. Sites located beneath ice flows showed significantly less tree density and significantly more tree damage. The sites selected for suggest that ice is the contributing factor for these differences. Further study is needed in order to determine if the disturbance is prohibiting the climax vegetation for this certain biome to develop and the resulting disturbance is keeping the sites in study in an extended seral vegetation community type (Weaver, 2002).



References:


Josephson, Joe, 2002. Winter Dance: Select Ice Climbs in Southern Montana and Northern Wyoming. First Ascent Press. pp. 86.

Weaver, Tad, 2002. An Introduction to Montana Ecosystems: A manual for study of Rocky Mountain Ecosystems. Ecology Department, Montana State University. pp. 3, 5-9, 57-60.