New routes and exploration.

A group of dedicated hand-bolters (damn our Socio Economic status!) have been bolting like mad at Morgan Cementery. Last week We placed 21 bolts, all by hand! Morgan Cementery is a special place to climb. The rock is loose, but good enough; it's the views and vibe that make the place special.













List of new routes (2011) Morgan Cemetery


- "origami" 5.11+ Sepuchler wall
- "Double Rainbow" 5.11 (by Scott Sandbaggin Salzer) Sepuchler wall
- "Slow Elk" 5.11b Mushroom rock
- "Gumby appreciation day" 5.5, Mushroom rock
- "Gnar" 5.5, Mushroom rock


"Syringopora" 5.10b, frog rock.


Clarky

Kevin V. and I excaped to the Clarky with "Salsa Verde" as a goal. The Clarky is a commiting place to climb. There is little betta, and the first ascentionists have created a bold technique which adds to the adventure.
The start of "Verde" is a set of chains hanging off an 800' cliff that buldges so the route can't be observed before rapping in. We rappelled in anyway, went to the wrong set of anchors (on accident) kept on rappelling, then ended up 500' up in no-mans-land with a stuck rope. I jugged up the 9.2 mm rope as it sawed on a sharp edge. We retrieved the ropes and make some sketchy rappels to the ground where we studied the route. By now we were fried from the crappy descent, but we also didn't know if we could hike out of the canyon. We decided to come back in better style and loaded our bags for the miserable hike out. Luckly we were able to find a mountain goat trail and follow it up (some 5th class) to the rim.








Random pictures from this spring in Montana











mandatory rest/rain day activity

Westminster Spires

It seemed like there was alot of interest in Westminster Spire. I included a topo of the classic original route and the mellow route Rick and I did.

A few months ago I was asked to write a small story pertaining to climbing in Montana. I choose to focus on the process, not the result, of being a climber. The story I wrote is called Zen and the Art of Failure. In summation the story was about failing in the mountains, the learning process, and the importance of persistance and process.

This spring has been providing me many opportunities to practice the art of failure. Montana has had an unsually high snowpack, colder than normal temps, and an abundance of moisture. These factors have lead to many talented climbers having an unsuccessful climbing season in the mountains around Montana. The past few days Rick Dvorak and I have had the same results. We tried to ski into a certain project (10 miles one way) only to find the road is washed out (adding on 8 more miles of travel). We abandoned plans, drove to the top of the Beartooth Plateau, and spoted a nice looking mixed line. We fumbled the approach, then finally got in a position where we could see the entire route. We found it capped by a 30' overhaning snow mushroom. Fail #2.

After wasting a day pissing in the wind we decided to just go rock climbing. Westminster Spire looked to be just what we needed. I had climbed the spire before along the original line (up the sharp arete) so we decided to try a new line up the feature. The only problem was that I forgot to bring rock shoes. I had a pair of approach shoes along (cirque pros) so we decided to give the spire a shot.

We chose a moderate line on the spire's right side that arched like a staircase directly to the summit. We approached the spire and geared up beneath the feature. We decided that it looked mellow enough to simul-climb. Rick (who had rock shoes) started up and I followed 20 meters behind. Cleaning the route was easy as Rick placed 6 pieces total on a 600' route. It was a mellow and fun route that felt more like an involved free solo. We summited the spire and basked in the sun. We descended the spire to the rappell anchor where we found rodents had chewed completly through the webbing. We replaced the anchors, then rappelled to the col between westminster spire and a taller (unnamed?) spire. We saw an arete on the spire (directly from the col) that looked fun, so I decided to lead it. After 70 meters of really fun moderate rock climbing we sat atop a second spire. Not a bad way to end a weekend of failures.

We descended back to our packs and hiked out to the car under a light rain. We have no idea if any of these 2 routes have been climbed before. They both were about 5.6 or 5.7 and had loose rock and some vegetation. classic right!

Cheers, Loren


Gearing up for failure number 2


finally we're climbing


Rick climbing on the arete


airborne choss


Rick coming up Spire number 2


Rick on descent


Rick below the spires, the left spire is the higher one. We climbed from the v-notch up the right skyline on the taller spire.

Elephanthead Mountain

Elephanthead is the strange looking knob in the center

The weather has finally broke here in Bozeman and the spring monsoon has left us with wet rock and piles of snow in the hills. Skiing is in order. Elephanthead mountain is a strange peak located in the Absaroka Mountains just east of Livingston, MT. The peak is a classic ski descent and the five mile and 3,000' elevation gain would be a great conditioner. Olin and I left Bozeman with an alpine start of 9:00am and reached the trailhead soon after. We hiked a few miles on a muddy trail, crossed a few streams heavy with runoff, then reached snowline and skinned the remaining distance to the summit. The weather reports for the day stated that thunderstorms and gusty winds were to be expected. When we reached the summit of the small peak all was calm, then suddenly it was like a light switch was flicked on. I have never been in wind that strong before. I have never had to lay on my side, holding on to a whippet, while putting on my skis. We hastly contoured to the lee ward side of the peak on our skis, getting blasted by the hurricane force winds. We skied 1,200' of open face before reaching the safety of the trees. The experience was more than expected and the descent was a classic Montana ass whooping. good times.

Cheers, Loren






View from the summit moments before the wind storm


The ridge top winds hitting the Crazy Mountains to the north

Wilderness

The rain in Montana this spring has been making climbing nearly impossible. The past few days Nathan Cooper and I went on a voyage to explore some unique Montana wilderness (actually a wilderness study area) located in....... Eastern Montana?. We explored the Terry Badlands located north of the Yellowstone River in Terry, Montana (a sleepy Cowboy town). We got rained on the whole time (we had to walk an additional 4 miles, one way, because the roads were to muddy), never the less, we enjoyed solitude and experienced genuine wilderness. The pictures are from the trip, we left everything as we found it, and I plan on going back.

Cheers, Loren

















Bitterroot, Montana's state flower


The Badlands in spring


Chimney rock, and yes I tried to climb it but...

Redlodge Mountain Ski Tour

The Final...count down

Sky Line Buttress

I haven't been up to much lately, very little climbing, skiing, or even schenanigans. What I have been doing is studing for finals in college, and I just finished my last one. I already had the bag packed, sitting by the door, before I even finished studying for my last test. The last test was devoted exclusivly so Steven Jay Goulds's book, The Structure of Evolutionary theory and macroevolution in the fossil record (see picture, and no it's not a misprint, it says 1002 pages). As I walked out into the light from the 3 hour long test, I squinted from the glare, not accoustemed to the sun. Then I smiled and ran home. I grabbed the prepacked bag and drove like mad to the Gallatin canyon. The hike in next to the river was nice, and helped to bring my jelly mind back to reality. I hiked up the mountain side for a bit, then stopped at a nondiscrete ledge. I was under the skyline buttress. Now this climb is nothing to write home about (or blog about), but damn it's fun! It goes at 5.6 and is roughly 5 pitches long, climbing an arete the entire way to an actual (little) summit. I won't bore you with the details (except for the snow has not quite melted off certain sections of the climb) so I'll just put some pictures of the solo here. It was awesome to get out climbing a super fun route (after a school induced hiatus), if you're ever in the Bozeman area and want a long moderate, this is the one!

Cheers, Loren


Gotta love Bozeman graffiti

"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