Alaskan Mountaineering

After a extremely fun spring whitewater kayaking season and almost losing my passion for climbing all together, my appetite for going vertical is once again satisfied. I'm back in the mountains, this time, in the Chugach Range near Valdez, Alaska managing the Tiekel River Lodge (1,050 ft.) Situated at mile 56 on the Richardson Highway, I'm isolated and will be here through September, fully content with all the mountains, glaciers, and beautiful routes I can stomach.

While I must find a balance between climbing and kayaking, I'm absolutely in love with Alaska. It's a wilderness unparalleled, teeming with adventure, ready for further exploration.

There are three distinct peaks within two miles that I'm going to summit in July. All three will involve no glacier travel, but classic ridgelines and will probably offer terrific views. Only one peak, Mt Tiekel, would it be prudent to have rope and climbing partner with for those "just in case" situations. Seeing that I have yet to meet any other mountaineers, I'm sure I'll be ascending all three solo. Alas, I do have the internet and will see what individuals I can scrounge up.

The first and considered the warm-up has no name (5510). It's a fairly straight forward scrambled from the treeline up to a rocky moraine filled and gradually ascending mountain. Resembling more of the Colorado Rockies than the steep Chugach, the peak should be relatively simple to ascend, provided the rumored trail is still flagged and somewhat recognizeable through the initial brush.

The second, titled Rice Mountain (5565 ft.), will be an extremely grueling hike involving ample bushwhacking through thick brush, route finding up to a ridge, then basically going straight up to another summit ridgeline and numerous false summits. The mountain isn't all that asthetically appealing, more of a "I'm going to kick my ass today" experience. Think a workout tape by mother nature.

The last, Mt. Tiekel (7010 ft.), will be the most challenging and technical, involving a long extended snow covered ridge that gradually ascends up to a sixty degree angle as it reaches the summit. I can't see the other side of this ridge so I have no idea how "knife edged" the ridge really is. From the summit however, a vertical drop off can been seen on both the south and north sides, providing one reason to believe that there exists a large bowl on the western side of the ridge. The contour lines on the topo map really show me nothing.

Photo: Mt. Tiekel on a typical sunny day.

As mentioned before, I'm choosing do summit these three peaks in July because of the snowpack and avalanche danger, the fact that I'm terribly out of climbing shape having only paddled a kayak for the past three months, and perhaps I'll be able to find a companion or two in hopes to get on other peaks in the region. I don't have much as far as gear is concerned, borrowing most of my gear from Joel, the owner of the lodge. Currently, I have a twin 8.1mm rope, three old ice screws, one picket, harness, helmet, reverso, a few draws, biners, and my boots. All the peaks will be done in a single day seeing it never gets dark. Side Note: Former climbing partners, fly to Alaska and climb with me. :)

Photo: Mt. Billy Mitchell telling you to "relax."

Also fortunate, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the largest national park in the country and host to three summits that are over 16,000 feet, is only two hours away via vehicle. The mountaineering potential in this area is literally limitless, with most ascents involving more than two weeks and access often only through bush planes. Driving and floating by the range twice now since my arrival in Alaska, one is simply awe-struck at the mere size and glaciation of these mountains. It's huge, burly, and intimidating. I finish my employment at the lodge in September and per the chance of finding a parter, would easily consider making a summit bid on one of the larger peaks having been training and climbing in the hills three months previous.


Pictures of the peaks to come soon as I'm using dial-up and uploading anything, let alone high megapixel photos is impossible at best.

Late Season Ice Climbing

Now in early retirement and having my kayaking plans pushed back a week, it was only proper to fire up one more ice climbing trip before the season officially ended with warm temperatures. Scrambling out a last minute email to a few select climbing partners, Kendra thankfully took vacation for last Wednesday and Thursday and agreed to head up the shore to tackle Nightfall, a nemesis of mine for the past two years.

Nightfall is the crown gem of Minnesota ice climbing. A 185 two pitch north facing route that lies in the belly of the Devil Track canyon near Grand Marais, this intimidating line in most years goes at a stout WI4. For two consecutive years I've attempted to climb Nightfall, hiking the mile into the canyon only to find poor conditions not suitable for climbing. Such is the way of the ice, some years provide nothing, some years render a route so big that two teams could simultaneously climb it. Graciously enough for 2008, Nightfall was in, appeared easier than previous recorded years, and was ripe for the taking.

We drove up from Minneapolis early Wednesday morning, getting to the ice flow by 1pm. Pesked by a strong wind blasting through the canyon, we quickly analyzed the route, geared up and went after it. Having won the coin toss, Kendra would lead the harder second pitch, while I would lead the first and establish the belay. We both wanted to lead and thus, after Kendra was finished, she would rap down, "clean" (remove protection) the route, and then let me have a go at it.

The first pitch was quite easy and went fairly quickly, only some segments of rotten ice at both on the lead and at the belay. Shortly after, Kendra was rocking up the meat of the climb. I've never seen her lead in such a smooth and confident fashion. She looked great, not long after place the first screw I heard her screaming to me that she was off belay. My turn.

I knew placing the first screw that my head wasn't in the right place. Three screws later and forty feet up my "lead" head was astray and I was forced to hang on a screw. To most and those non-climbers, this probably seems practical when ascending, however to a proud climber, it can viewed as somewhat of a lack of style. Granted, we all climb to ascend, however to do it with style and grace, IE: without hanging or other aid, is more rewarding. After shaking out my legs and the amassed fear my head, I started up again confident, pulling through the final crux moves and ascending onto easier terrain finishing the route. Shaking my head at my somewhat sloppy lead while establishing the rappel, I realized the this canyon always seems to get the best of me.

(Kayak Rescue: http://kayakboatriding.blogspot.com/2007/11/fall-creek-week-day-4-devil-track.html )

Enjoying the comforts of daylight savings time, we bounced down the road to the Cascade River, where the Cascade ice fall awaited ascension. We rapped down the humongous ice fall and prepared to climb. Eager to lead after a excellent previous climb, Kendra fired up Cascade, again flawlessly leading the entire climb, periodically talking to me while she went. The smile on her face I as met her at the top-belay resembled that of a child at Christmas. Ice climbing is a wonderful thing.

Opting to not camp at Kendra's request, we drove into Duluth to grab some drinks, dinner, and spent the night at Sam's, a hostel for climbers. The next day we awoke early, grabbed some coffee and ventured into Casket Quarry. Casket, the Duluth ice climbing and dry tooling crag, holds a wealth of moderate to hard ice and dry tool routes, all well protected. Thinking we would arrange a top rope at one of the selected established routes, I was quite shocked when Kendra told me that she'd like to lead a route called, "Thin and Bear it." (M6)

She battled up the route, her first drytool lead ever, and eventually desired to be lowered after the 4th bolt. Amazed by her guts and climbing, Kendra then went into instructor mode and showed me to how do a Texas sling (?), where one can descend a bolted route without leaving gear.

Tired but not finished, we wanted to do one more route at Sandstone, a quarry an hour down interstate 35. Arriving at the crag, we hiked to the top of the climb, set up a top rope, and climbed a corner route. I'm not particularly sure of the name, but the route is one of the more fun and diverse climbs I've done. Mixing such moves as stems, splits, torques, and basically any thing else that one can think of to properly ascend. The corner route left us with smiles and content as we packed up our gear into the back of Kendra's BMW and sped back towards Minneapolis, it was a great mini-trip and a perfect end to the 2007/2008 ice climbing season.

Post Season Commentary

I haven't alluded to it in this blog but this season marked the first where I lost a good climbing partner, not to death or other extremities, but to personal issues that this person needed to attend to. It pained me often throughout the season, not because I was without my favorite climbing partner whom I've shared many a rope with, but because I knew that this person lives to climb and the joy they receive from the sport cannot be matched by any other. I've missed him deeply, but have no doubts that my best friend will once again rope up with me in hills, returning stronger than ever, and with more a desire to conquer routes in high places that we so dearly love. If you read this, I will always have a route and a rope ready.

Alas, my partner is temporarily gone, but with loss comes gain. This season marked the forging of new partnerships that I'm particularly excited about, Kendra Stritch and Justin Anderson have emerged in my climbing life as exceptionally stronger, if not stronger climbers, that have more of a desire to whack at frozen water more than I could ever fathom. Their passion and positivity as climbing partners have been more than a welcome relief to my somewhat troubled mind. First and foremost, if you two read this, thank you for roping up with me, it was wonderful to see such passion for climbing. Secondly, thank you for the memories, this season was definitely one to remember. I look forward to many a more.

Nipigon 2008

Fired up the second annual trip to Nipigon, Canada a couple of weeks ago. This sleepy and somewhat creepy town located at the very northern tip of Lake Superior arguably holds some of the best ice climbing on the continent. Cold weather, extremely hard ice, and loads of climbs make this place, officially label, "Orient Bay", truly unique.

Sarah Arntson, Justin Anderson, and myself motored up from the Twin Cities to sinks our hungry tools into some yellowish Nipigon ice. We arrived late Friday night only to find the "Beer Store" (no joke on the title) and the Legion, where the ice festival was taking place. Watching a presentation on a Sherpa Nepalese climbing school, we later ventured closer to the climbs searching for a place to winter camp for the night.

Photos: (left to right) Showing our "0-face" at camp. Tieing in on Syscho Icycho

We camped with some buddies from Minnesota (the name escapes me) and ended the night around a sub par fire coupled with hints of cheap malt Canadian beer. Morning came early as the did the ice climbing, smiles erupting from my face as I watched my partners facial expressions as the sheer magnitude of the Orient Bay climbs exposed themselves.

Photo: Beefy Nipigon Ice Rack

Tempest (WI2+) was the first choice, an easy climb to break us into the hard ice and long routes. Justin began the lead, traversing more and more left as he climbed setting up the not necessary hanging belay, his first ever. Shortly after I set off quickly climbing to Justin noticing that he seemed a little uneasy about his position and experience with hanging belays, keep in mind we are 120' off the ground at this point. Reassuring him and making a few minor changes to the system, I called out for Sarah to climb up to us, which she did with much pose wasting no time getting to our belay station.

Photo: Justin leading pitch 1 of Tempest.

As Sarah came to the belay, I noticed that she looked a bit queasy, struggle to clip her safety carabiner to the system. I helped her up and noticed that she was looking pale with her eyes rolling back into her forehead. Having climbed with Sarah previous, I knew that she had a small history of feeling weak on climbs, I asked her if she was "OK", no response. Shortly after she lost consciousness, passing out in my arms slunking over into the vertical ice. As Sarah was out, I had one hand on the back of her and the other constantly checking her pulse/breathing. I had Justin rig a rappel with our second rope and informed him that as soon as she came to, we were going down, him first, then Sarah, then I'd clean the route. As fate would have it, Sarah awoke after four or five minutes coming completely to. We ended up getting her safely down and back onto the ground. The whole three hour experience was quite intense, somewhat scary, and a horrible way to start the trip.

Photo: Sarah passed out at the hanging belay.

Justin and I took Sarah into town to wash a few things and strolled back out into Orient Bay to hit a few more climbs. Going from one extreme to the other we chose to fire up a route called Obsession (WI4) a two pitch route with a vertical 40' pillar at the top. The route itself looked very good from the road and Justin did a fine job of leading the first pitch of WI3. Setting up a hanging belay on the opposite side of the usual piton secured hanging belay, I quickly climbed up to Justin ready to tackle the vertical second pitch. I could see that Justin was already apprehensive to follow the route and I'd be lying if I said I was 100% ready to tackle the pillar. After five minutes of deep pondering, we both opted to retreat. It was the first time I've backed off a climb. For reasons still unknown to me, I didn't feel as if I could successfully and more importantly safely, ascend the pillar without incident. If I were to take a fall I would have certainly rip past the belay thus shock loading Justin's system at the hanging belay. Excuses aside, I was afraid, and from the incidents a few hours previous, felt it wasn't worth firing up. Mentally and physically I was already drained. As the name aptly applies, I'm now obsessed with "Obsession." Next season, it will be lead, by me, sans conditions. I hate losing and I want that climb.

Photo: (Left to Right) 1) Rapping Obession. 2) Looking down off of Obsession hanging belay.

3) A wet Obsession icing up my headlamp and helmet.

With daylight dwindling, Justin thought that we should probably go back and grab Sarah. Talking him into another climb was quite easy and Psycho Icyscho was the next objective. Psycho Isycho (WI2+) is a huge 160 foot wall of ice. Leading through the extremely hard brittle ice, I found it sometimes hard to get a solid tool placement with my brand new Nomic ice tools. Justin quickly followed, we snapped some sunset photos and made the two rappels back down to the base of climb, only to come back to an angry Sarah and a hot meal.

Photos: (Top to Bottom) 1) Leading up Scycho Icyscho 2) Another lead on S.I.
We attended the nights festivities had a few cocktails and retreated back to the hotel. Waking late on Sunday morning we opted to drive back to the North Shore of Minnesota to hit up the Manitou River Canyon for whatever ice and energy we could find. Top-roping the main flow and the dicey climbers left flow, we left the canyon content with a interesting weekend of ice climbing and some fun memories.

Lessons learned:

1) Nipigon is probably not a place for newbies.
2) Climbing is about fun, not firing up as gnarly as you make it.
3) While I felt confused by the whole weekend, I think Sarah and Justin had a great time, which looking back, is about all that matters.

CoNsumPtIOn JuNcTiOn: UP!!

Due to financial pressures of my upcoming ventures, the proposed winter ascent of Mt. Hood was botched and thus, the Upper Peninsula emerged as the worthy winter alternative. Lucky enough for Pete and I, there existed two locations that promised quality conditions for both snowboarding and ice climbing. The first being Mt. Bohemia, the "gnarliest" skiing location in the midwest, complete with the ever so unheard of, "backcountry runs." The second was the tried and true Michigan Ice Fest, which much to our benefit was in it's 25th year of festivity. Couple these two seperate adventures with a loose grouping of local breweries, many a horrible road conditions, some socially lubricated antics, and the Consumption Junction: UP! easily sufficed our hunger for a much needed road trip.

Pete rolled in to Minneapolis from Madison early evening on the 28th of January. Arriving direct from a closing shift at work I met both cousin Pete and cousin John at the Herkermer Brewpub to kick off the consumption portion of our tour. In typical fashion, Pete and I prolonged the night with probably too many pints of good beer and laughter. The next morning we took off, gathering a few provisions setting off for the great north.

First diversions occured at an unsuccessful attempt to score lunch and pint at the Thirsty Pagan out of Superior, WI. Unfortunately for us, the pub was closed until 4pm, thus we rambled down the snowy roads of the south shore to the infamous Southshore Brewery in Ashland, WI. Tickling our fancies, we found great beer, equally good food, and exquisite sampler of other tasty freshly brewed ales. Leaving with somewhat of a buzz and a satisfied hunger, we were greated with the first of many flourishing Upper Peninsula blizzards. Darkness fell, driving conditions worsened, and deeper into the Keewinaw Peninsula we drove, hoping to either reach our destination of Mt. Bohemia, most likely getting stuck in a ditch somewhere breaking out packed mountaineering gear, or be forced to find a bar and park for the night. Luckily, with the help of my mother's borrowed SUV and inching through large blowing snowdrifts for hours, we managed to reach our final destination of Mt. Bohemia, only to find a few snowed in yurts and a single cabin with a light on.

Our original loosely based itinerary was to snowboard at Mt Bohemia for a couple of days then head on down to Munising, this of course was all pending powder conditions. As we found in the first initinal hours, the "resort" is a mix of poorly business management pracitices and great mountain skiing. I know that some of you that reside out west may laugh at this but I've rode in powder/terrain ranging from British Columbia to the Colorado Rockies and when lake effect powder conditions exist at this resort, it's good, much shorter, but damn solid stuff. The resort itself lies on the very tip of the Keeweenaw Peninsula, a landmass that jets out 100 miles into the middle of stormy Lake Superior. Given it's location, lake effect snow averages 273 inches of snow annually, all of this going ungroomed. The shotty website can do some justice to the area, http://www.mtbohemia.com/

Night one was spent in a Yurt that we practically broke into. Upon our arrival, we encountered only the ski patrol, who had ovbiously smoked way too much pot and were watching movies in the warming cabin, almost completely oblivious to not only their surroundings but who was in charge. Thus we had literally no idea where we could stay, etc.

The next morning Pete and I suited up only to find that due to high wind and continuing blizzard conditions, the two lifts on the resort wouldn't be opened for the day. Not to be deterred, we found our ski patrol buddies, polished off a beer, and set out to earn some turns. It was cold, windy, and miserable, but we were both happy to be out again together enjoying the things we love. After waiting for the rest of the group, our team opted to hit the backside of the resort which provided all with wonderful knee to thigh deep powder, trees, and great terrain. Totally worth the effort. We walked the half mile back to the yurts, warmed up, and took off for the local saloon to devise a plan for the rest of the day. Later that night as the wind died down, with the help of numerous additional social lubricants, we dawned our headlamps and beer, setting off for two more great powder missions. More than slightly intoxicated, Pete and I enjoyed the stars and turns, laughing ourselves to sleep in the warming cabin, only again to avoid the fees of shelter at Mount Bohemia.



Day three at the Bohemith granted us an open resort, fresh tracks, and avoiding the pesky owner's pries at trying to figure out who had stayed in the warming cabin the night previous. He made it far too clear on one of the backcountry runs that if we were to find the two culprits, we needed to point them out to him ASAP so that they could get charged the $100 fine for sleeping in the warming cabin. With the heat on and the snow ending, we both decided it was time to bounce down the shore. We only made it eighty miles south before stumbling across two dollar pints and a cute bartender at the Keeweenaw Brewing Company out of Houghton, Michigan.



Long story short: Pete and Andy consume too many $2 pints, order a couple of pizzas, find a hotel a block away from the brewery, shower, come back to the brewery only to consume more pints, find out that the cute bartender is only 20 years old and heading off to see a judge tomorrow at 9am as a result of 3 OWI's, smile, leave brewery to find another bar with $5 pitchers of Long Island Ice Teas, Pete gets tossed into a wall while urinating, guy that tossed Pete is shortly escorted out by two huge U.P. bouncers, police come, arrest guy, Pete and Andy eventually make it to hotel, sleep, have breakfast, and head to Munising. Against the local's chants, somehow we opted to skip out on heading across the bridge to another bar that served .25 cent beers that was loaded with and I qoute, "sluts". Check it out if you're the area and looking for a good beer or a good time: http://www.keweenawbrewing.com/

Midnight Antics at Shooters bar

Next up was the 25th Annual Michigan Ice Fest, a large midwestern ice festival situated in the tiny U.P. town of Munising, MI, population 2,583. According to the founder of the fest, Bill Thompson, this year brought well over 500 participants, speakers, and outdoor gear representatives. Pete and I arrived later on Friday the 1st, meeting up with fellow Twin Cities climbing partner Kendra Stritch. We checked into the hotel, signed up for the festival, and set off to whack our tools into some local ice flows. The Munising area offers some distinctively interesting ice formations and can be personally classified into two categories: hanging pillars and sea cliff ice.



The hanging pillars are the result of the many small creeks that dot the landscape around the Munising area, they are typically big, beautiful, free standing pillars totally anywhere from thirty five to fifty feet, often complete with water flowing through the middle of the flow. The majority of these climbs were found along Sand Point Road, just a few miles out of Munising.

Day one was spent finding a ice crag labeled the "Amphitheater" which in the guidebook goes at WI5. Seeing that the flow usually doesn't form into a single pillar, rather a multitude of hanging pillars and flows, it probably would go at WI5. We came across a solid, wide pillar of 35 plus vertical feet, ranging probably in the WI4 range. Two doctors from Wisconsin were already top-roping it as we approached. Lucky for us, they completed their desired routes, and let us have our way with the climb. I lead the route, set up a top-rope, and we whacked ice till nightfall.

Pete belaying me on Amphitheater

The Lake Superior sea cliff climbs are vastly different and much more intimidating than the pillar flows of Munising. These climbs, almost all established in Pictured Rocks National Seashore, are the result of small seepages in the Pictured Rock cliffs and almost all total over 100 feet in length. Access to the climbs, as we found, is somewhat demanding. There are two options in accessing the Picture Rocks climbs, one is to traverse the Lake Superior Ice shelf and go from the ground up. Another option here is if the lake is fully frozen, one could XC ski across the bay to the climbs. Our option, and aparently the more popular one is to drive in ten plus miles via unplowed backcountry roads, park, then snowshoe another 1-4 miles on various roads and other trails to the top of the climbs. Earning your ice is definetely the mantra here, our specific one "backcountry" climb involved getting the SUV stuck on five different occasions, the last epic required the three of us, two kind snowmobilers, a Wisconsin family, and webbing-hitched Suburban to get us out of the middle of the road. If one is to venture to these climbs, be sure to have a backup plan and be prepared to spend a night or two out in the park. As the kind snowmobiler told us, "Yah, they don't come back with the wreckers here to get people out, it's stuck till May.." If I could only see my mom's face as I told her, "Hey mom, while you were in Peru, I took your SUV to the U.P. and it'll be stuck till May. But no worries, we have some good stories."

Leading something...

After getting stuck, lost, and tramping through knee deep snow for hours, the three of us were fortunate enough to climb Bridalveil Falls on our "backcountry" day. The climb is a beautiful two pitch route, WI3/+, that rarely forms up. We rapped down, established a hanging belay at the top of pitch one and top roped the final pitch. First swings proved that the ice was extremely rotten and I was quite content with myself for not firing up lead. The ambience of the climb however made up for the poor conditions and was absolutely spectacular. To be hanging on a large sheet of ice, hundreds of feet above Lake Superior, is without a doubt an outerworldy experience. All around we visually feasted on the frozen beauty of Pictured Rocks, Grand Island, and the ocean like Lake Superior. A top notch climbing location!

Pete rapping while I'm waiting patiently at the belay.


Getting the vehicle unstuck and finally back in Munising, we all fired up some cocktails and the hotel hot tub as a pregame to the night's festivities of drinking, socializing with fellow climbers, and listening to the impressive tales of professional atheletes. Night two wasn't as eventful as the previous nights ventures to the local taverns, namely Shooters, a pub/hotel/conference room? At least such was the case for Pete and I, Kendra didn't end up staying with us that night..... uh oh. :)

View from the belay

Day three of the fest emerged as the "We're too damn tired to hike again." day and we rambled down Sand Point Road to climbs known as "Dryer Hose" and the "Curtains". Basically a loaded haven of good ice with TONS of climbers and top-ropes. Already late in the day, we bit the bullet and fired up as many 30+ foot routes as we could on the Curtains, pausing periodically to correct a error in new climbers belay systems or to switch demo tools.

Dryer Hose and Backcountry Earnings

All in all, it was a great trip. Great powder, solid local beer, a quality ice festival, and good hearted Mid-Western adventurers made for many a memory and laugh for time to come. The final story comes from a place called St. Sabrinas, an experience second to none, however I'll tell, well perhaps show that one around a campfire down the road. :)

Pete getting ballsy on Bridalveil

*Most photos shot by Kendra Stritch

Manitou River/Sandstone Ice - 2008

Brad Arendt, Justin Anderson and I ventured up to the North Shore of Lake Superior the second weekend of January for some winter adventuring. Motoring up through the early evening of the 14th, we made camp near the banks of the Caribou River, basically looking for a quiet place after spending three and half hours in the car. We made various forms of dinner, erected the Fibler (my new Bibler Fitzroy) and started a roaring fire. PBR and the shutter of Brad's camera lens were consumed at random to the peaceful still of the Shore. Again, I felt as if peace was once again restored into my mind and soul sitting next to those flames only to stare occasionally up at the bright stars, listening to the wind blow off a cold Lake Superior.

Group Shot at Sanstone

Winter Camping on the Caribou River

We packed out early the morning after heading towards our first ice climbing destination, the Manitou River Gorge. A hidden excitement creapt through my veins as we descended into the canyon side stepping the ice flows and entering the mouth of the beautiful river bed. Having see all but a few of the North Shore river canyons, I was a Maintou virgin, only to be completely blown away by the winter beauty of this river. Hanging ice daggers, snow covered boulders, and dark caverns lined the walls as we crept along the thin river ice zig-zagging our way upstream in search of rumored climbable ice flows. A half mile later we were greeted by the meat of Manitou ice, numerous fifty to sixty foot columns that ranged from thin low angle ice to fat vertical leads. Further upstream lay fantastic opportunities for mixed and drytooling lines.

Trippy Manitou Ice

Tread Lightly - Manitou River

I led up the mainflow (WI 3ish - 60 feet) only to find numerous webbing runners slung in the roots of trees throughout the canyon rim. Top rope errected, we began taking laps on the flow. After a lap or two, we were greeted by old friends of mine from Duluth; Nick, Ross, and Craig. Now having numerous ropes on various lines throughout the canyon, we spent the rest of the day climbing fantastic ice, in relatively warm weather, in a beautiful place. Side Note: Justin Anderson in his true climbing infancy, dropped the rope onto a ledge while setting up a route upstream. Thankfully, his climbing buddy Andy free-soloed up to the rope, tied in, then lead the rest of the thin route cursing Justin's name the entire way up. Lesson Learned: Don't ever drop the rope!

Going up.

Sharp end of the Rope

Saturday evening was spent drying gear out at my buddy Sam's place, also a Duluth adventurer. Sam, Sarah (his girlfriend) and our crew then made our way over to the Duluth Adventure Film Festival, put on by numerous creeker friends of mine. The fest which included free beer, great local videos....enough said there. The night ended with mass quantities of social lubricants and kayaking stories only to be dosed with a rediculous Sunday morning hangover.

Andy drytooling up the corner in Sandstone.

Casket Quarry, a local Duluth crag , was on the menu for Sunday. Alas, we showed up around noon to be welcomed by well over 30 climbers. Every route had a rope on it! We all opted to head to Sandstone instead for some quiet climbing/dry tooling. We ended the weekend back in the cities, tired, happy, and ready for another work week. Conditions at Sandstone: The main flow is beat to hell, full of holes, easy hooking, still WI 4. Conditions at Casket: New bolts, everywhere! The ramp was in as well as the two pillar route. Mixed/Dry Tooling routes abound!

Winter Climbing Begins

J. Anderson at the Brickyards - 1/3/08

Tis a "fat" year thus far for Minnesota/Midwest Ice! The wonderful fall rains presented all of us climbers not only with wonderful drainages to create frozen verticality, but also provided one with the ever so precident fact that global warming is in a fact a liberal hoax..... :) joke.

Sarah Arntson at Casket - 12/18/07

Started the season off with the Sandstone Ice Festival, December 9th. John Kiffmeyer, Justin Anderson, and myself all ventured up to the small town of Sandstone for partying and below zero ice climbing in true Minnesotan style. Butt cold was the moto of the day as temperatures soared to a killer three degrees. The group of us partied hard into the night, mixing stories and a excellent Himalaya climbing presentation by Mike Farris, author of the Minnesota/Wisconsin rock climbing guide. During the day, all of whacked at uber brittle mixed columns.

John Kiffnasty probably freezing to death at Sandstone - 12/9/07

Changing home crags from Casket Quarry of Duluth to the Brickyards of St. Paul, I'm once again yearning for crags larger than those of the Upper Midwest. Having lived 18 years of my life Iowa however, provides one with a sense of gratitude for even having a place to climb vertical ice.

Casket Conditions - 12/18/07

Post Sandstone has been a two day trip up Casket Quarry with Sarah Arntson and a few Brickyard outings with Mike Paisley and Anderson. All in the all ice remains to be plump, hopefully promising a fantastic year climbing the frozen waterfalls of the area.

Sarah and Andy winter camping near the Knife River, North Shore. - 12/18/07

Upcoming Trips: (see http://spanktheday.com/ for an updated interary through March)





North Shore: Nightfall, Manitou, Cascade, Silver Creek, and Casket. (January Weekends)


South Shore/Michigan Ice Fest: Black River and the UP with Pete Cueno/Friends. (February)


Brickyards/Sandstone/Metro Poaching Missions: (Wednesdays through March)


Nipigon/Thunder Bay, Canada: (End of February/Early March) with Brad Arendt.





Trip Reports/Conditions to be updated weekly.





:)

Taylors Falls Sessions

Having moved down the Twin Cities from Duluth on July 20th, I was struck with two realizations: 1)I was finished working nights and now have multiple partners during my new daylight hours to "rock" with, and 2) No longer was I blessed with the multitude of wonderful climbing areas of the North Shore.


Libby McMurray searches for the next hold on Piece of Pie (5.8)


J. Hermanson learns how to top-belay atop Old Man (5.8)



Alas, in true North Shore climbing mentality, I was drawn to Taylors Falls, a trad-leader's substitute for traditional climbing. Shortly after a few climbing ventures, I was deeply surprised with the vast amount of quality crack climbing in the area on both the Wisconsin and Minnesota side. Upon my discovery, I've visited this unique state park almost every week from training friends/family on the technicalities of rock climbing to developing my own traditional leading skills. More than thankful for having such a quality crag located in such proximity to the Twin cities, Taylors Falls has completely filled the void that the shore once bestowed upon me.

James Hermanson says relax.

With the goal to climb or least attempt every route in the parks before I embark on my adventure, our climbings have ranged from night leading with headlamps to easy top-roping in the hot Minnesota sun. Below are some photos of the past 3 months.






Andy warming up on Sonny and Juanita (5.5)






Brad Arendt getting "rEaL" atop a climb.





Andy starting the hand traverse on Digit Dance (5.7)



Mr. Scharenbroich going big on Lloyd's Lament (5.6)