An Archive of beta

Protection on "Lone Goat" Crazy Mountains


I figured I'd archive a few First Recorded Ascents partners and I have done over the years, mainly because I have a short memory and these routes have a high chance of being lost to time, which will eventually happen anyway. Climbing in the mountains of Montana it's not really about first ascents; it's about the experience, sharing cold coffee with good people, laughing, being so scared you want to puke, sunrises, sunsets, falling snow, getting away from "the man", falling ice, commitment, having a synergy with your partner where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, falling rock, pushing yourself beyond what you think you can do, being a living part of a mountain, being awake.

Ice:

"Puta Gato" WI4, 2p, East Rosebud, Beartooths
"Wolverine Falls" WI 3+, 2p, Crazy Mountains
"Elk Falls" WI 3, 70m, East Rosebud, Beartooths
"Piolet falls" WI 3, 15m, Crazy Mountains
"Brown Gully" M6, 2p, Pine Creek, Absaroka Mountains
"Chicken Wing" M6, 20m Crazy Mountains
"Low Hanging Fruit" M5, 15m East Rosebud, Beartooths
"Scottish Leather Face" WI3, M3, 2p, West Rosebud, Beartooths

Rock:

"Cloud Forrest" V8, Rock Creek, Beartooths
"The Butterfly Effect" V7, Madison River
"Meadow" 5.12a (sport), Bozeman
"Cyber Circus" 5.11a 3 pitches(sport) Bozeman
"Moon Dog" 5.12a (sport), Bozeman
"Half turn" 5.9 (sport), Redlodge
"Scruffy Squirrel" 5.10 (sport), Redlodge
"New World Monkey" V6, Billings Rims
"Apsaalooke Spire" 5.8, Beartooth Mountains
"East Ridge of Spirit Mountain" 5.7, 12 pitches, Beartooth Mountains
"North-East Ridge of Storm Spire" 5.9, 6 pitches, Beartooth Mountains
"Lone Goat" 5.7, 3 pitches, Crazy Mountains
"Dark Moon Couloir" AI3, 1,300' Spirit Mountain
"Unnamed" 5.9, 2p, Unnamed wall, Hyalite Canyon




Rick Dvorak on "East Ridge of Spirit Mountain"




Myself starting up "Elk Falls"




"Puta Gato" WI 4




Olin Erickson on "Scottish Leather Face"




Olin Erickson on "Cyber Circus"



Apsaalooke Spire



Dark Moon couloir, spirit Mountain (with partial ski descent, solo)

Leaning Tree

K-Bone, B-Rad, Scott Salzer, and myself went to climb "Leaning Tree"; an 800' WI3+ pure ice climb.  We drove from Bozeman to the ice climb and arrived at the "campsite" (pull out next to the road) at 12:00am under clear skies and a cold -9F temp.

We crawled into inadequate sleeping bags and slept untill 5:00am. We woke, brewed drinks, ate breakfast, and got ready for an adventure. We left the road at 6:30am and headed down towards the canyon following tracks of a friend who had climbed the line a week prior. We dropped down 1,000 feet through timber to the canyon rim where we got our first glimpse of the ice climb.




We dropped down into a nasty drainage which took us another 1,000 feet into the heart of the canyon. We hit the river in the narrow gorge and walked to the base of the climb, crossing the river on a sketchy little tree over the freezing neck deep river.

we racked up below the climb then proceded to climb it in 5 pitches with a 60m rope (some short pitches ending on ice ledges). Climbing with a group of 4 proved to be difficult at first but then we got in the swing of things and had a blast. The ice was really brittle with dinner plate after dinner plate, keeping the moderate ice interesting. The climb ended by climbing right through a tight ice couloir with screws and nuts for gear. We rappelled the route off v-threads and touched down in the canyon at dark where we recrossed the sketchy tree bridge and hiked the 2,000 feet back UP to the car uneventfully.











We drove back to bozeman and my head hit my pillow at 2:00am. A 5 star route very high on adventure. Cheers!