Time to Hybernate?

The snow is dumping and the ice is forming here in Montana which spells no flying and the beginning of climbing season. I really enjoy sitting at the sewing machines, building harnesses for fellow pilots but it's nice to escape day dreams of thermalling in the sun and get the personal rewards that come from hard work in the mountains mixed in with some good old fashion suffering.



Climbing in the mountains here during winter is really special. There are absolutely no crowds and in fact, it's rare to see much of anyone after a long approach. There are lessons earned that sometimes take us to a place of understanding long forgotten, or in completely new ways because of the uncertainty of it. You don't know if the routes are formed or not, or, if a particular route is formed in a remotely similar way to what you have experienced in years past. Ice is dynamic. A moving crystal that creates a line of weakness to travel high on alpine walls which would otherwise repel us easily. Every year it's different and new. Climbing rock is fun but usually quite sequential, forcing you to do sometimes particular moves to efficiently navigate the route. Ice allows multiple lines and opens the chance to be creative and to use your imagination to discover what feels possible to you.


The flanks of Mt Edwards



Chris and I decided to go and have a look at the intimidating routes on the North Face of Mt Edwards in Glacier National Park. It was still fairly early season so we had realistic intentions and really just wanted to ski in to see what and how things were shaping up. Although, still early in terms of the "cold cycle" of our area, it was pretty late for any Grizzly bears to be out so we were a little apprehensive as we followed a big pigeon toed bastard into the circ. I kept wondering when it would turn off the trail but low and behold, we followed it for the 6 mile ski into the dead end circ we were planning to camp in. It was snowing and the claw holes were not filled in yet which meant, a couple hours max in front of us. It was pretty cool that he broke trail for us though because the further we got into the circ, the snow got pretty F*^&'n deep;-)





We ended up approaching the routes the following morning after hearing the unstable snow pack "whumphing" all night knowing that the avalanche hazard was most likely horrendous from a cold snap followed by a Chinook. After climbing 30% of the slope toward the wall, we dug a pit and confirmed that the slope was primed for wet slab avalanches so we clicked in and skied our way out.



After getting some more work done at home, my jones was far from satisfied so we post holed into the Mission mountains and climbed some local ice in full value conditions. Our friend Justin Woods met us at the trail head which made for lighter loads and a great "bro factor". Although it was not the adventure we look to find when climbing in the Park, it was really cool just to swing the tools and always great to climb with good friends.