Winter is Here

The first major storm of the year has finally arrived, bringing with it lots of snow and freezing temps. Unfortunately its timing couldn't be worse for me. Jeff and I had planned to climb in Canada, but the heavy snowfall has brought poor stability to the snowpack. The recipe for avalanches couldn't be more perfect. We are now forced to twiddle our thumbs and find something else to do. Since there isn't quite enough snow for skiing and not enough ice to climb, we were force to get creative. We bolted links of chain to Jeff's climbing wall for the purpose of hooking them with our ice tools. It turned our to be great training. We may have solved the problem of how to train for hard mixed climbing.

South Carolina

Just got back from another great trip. This time I traveled to South Carolina to visit my brother, his wife, and my niece. My folks planned on driving down the same time so I got to spend time with them also. It had probably been 3 years since we had all been in the same place at one time. I had a great time visiting everyone and especially getting to meet my niece.

Yesterday marked Day 4 this week at Kootenai Canyon. Feeling weak lately, I felt it was necessary to get some milage in. The climbing was great and I remembered how much I enjoy our local routes. Everything from on-your-feet, to horizontal roof climbing. I put myself on anything from classic routes to old test pieces and was pleasantly surprised at my performance.

Since I was with Dean and Levi yesterday, I thought it could be a good opportunity to get some pics. The overcast sky diffused the sunlight limiting hash shadows, but forced slow shutter speeds. I made some mistakes and learned my lessons, but oh well, there will be next time.

Dean warming up on "Lookout its 10d" (5.10b)

Levi starting up "The B.R.I.K." (5.12b)

Levi "The B.R.I.K."

Levi "The B.R.I.K."

Levi "The B.R.I.K."

Levi "The B.R.I.K."

Levi on "Club Foot" (5.12a)

Dean on "Club Foot"

Levi on "Smoking Joe Tahoe" (5.12b)

Crux move on "Smoking Joe Tahoe"

California Climbing

Another great trip to visit Brad and climb. This time we checked out some climbing in the hills behind Santa Barbara, then headed to the Needles. The climb in Santa Barbara was great. A short, but great crack climb with a heady mantle in the middle.

Mid-mantle move

The Needles turned out to be awesome. In the middle of no-where, we had the entire place to ourselves. Wonderful granite spires riddled with perfect cracks. We warmed up on some easier climbing which turned out to be some of the best. Then we worked our way to slightly more difficult climbing, which again was amazing. Excellent crack with great protection.

Approaching the mantle move

The scenery was spectacular; Mt. Whitney to the North and the Golden Trout Wilderness below us. Everyday lent itself to wonderful sunrises, sunsets, and great climbing.

Brad topping out on "T-Crack"

With only two days spent there, Brad and I left looking forward to a return trip.

Overlooking the climbs

Beer time post climbing

Brad on the last pitch of "Igor Unchained"

The Sorcerer

Topping out on "Airy Interludes"

Brad approaching the 1st belay on "Thin Ice"

View from near the climbing

Fall in Montana

Last few week haven't been anything exotic, but I'm still managing to have fun. Thankfully work butts in long enough for me to catch my breath. The weather is mimicking summer, one that we never had, so I've been doing my best to take advantage of it. Fishing, climbing, flying, hiking, and visiting friends has been my agenda when not at work. I've caught a little bug now, but that will only slow my stride. Here are some pics from my daily jaunts...

Cutthroat Trout

Ben Brunsvold

Ben sticking a pig

The newest member of our clan; Ana Knoll

Cynthia and Ana

Patrick and Ana

Kyle assessing the next moves

Scotty working it

Scotty working the crux

Slightly upside-down over Missoula

Diving out of the maneuver

Bill Smith touching down

Lolo Pass Climbing

Went up to Lolo Pass the other day to climb. I hadn't been there for years, so it was nice to climb something different. Since there were three of us, I decided to bring the extra equipment to take pics.

Fishing

Before Sage and I left for Yellowstone, I went into the mountains to check out some water Brad was telling me was excellent to fish. I had the best day of fishing to date so when we returned from Yellowstone, I promptly went back. I hiked in a few miles and started fishing the many holes. I was quickly NOT disappointed. I caught a few small guys in the littler pools, then found the deep holes where the larger fish were hiding. I fished for about eight hours up and down the river catching a total of 16 fish, most of which were 14" to 17". Once again, the river did not disappoint.

A few of the Cutthroats I caught: