Lastly is a vid of Ho doing the FA of a gorgeous new line at Cascade – ‘Fear Factor’. Technically it’s the 2nd ascent since I was blowing it with the video camera and ran out of space just before Ho climbed it the first time. I deleted some footage off and made him climb it again. Isaac would be proud!
Been developing like crazy lately. Too much stone to climb. Made two trips out to the Tobacco Roots – one to Lower Mason Lake and the other to Hollowtop Valley. The day trip to Hollowtop Valley ended up being a full value day of bouldering. I decided to check out some potential on the way to the Valley, which made the 2-2.5 hour hike into a 4.5 hour hike, but I did see some cool rock on the way. There was some bouldering that probably wasn’t worth the hike, but there were some really cool looking cliffs:
Looked like a few potential splitters, but I didn’t get close enough to gurantee quality. Any traddies out there up for some hiking?
I finally made it to Hollowtop Valley and warmed up on large boulder with a cool section of crystally rock:
From there I went to the main event – a perfect 30-40 degree overhanging finger crack that I found last year – the Punisher. I got semi-shutdown on this when I tried it last year and I knew I wouldn’t have too many trys because of the painful nature of it. The problem is basically two super painful finger locks, a really tight/insecure hand jam and a dyno – not long by any means, but not short either. I quickly made sure I could do each move individually, then gave it all I had and sent! I have no idea on the grade, mostly because cracks are my biggest weakness, but this is definitely one of the best problems I’ve done and one of my proudest FAs.
The Punisher:
I finished up the day by doing a cool lip traverse near the Punisher and started the long 2 hour hike back. Luckily it’s a little quicker heading back because it’s downhill, but it was still the most tired I’ve been in about 5 year. I was just about falling asleep while hiking. I managed to find the same cool tree that I found on my way out last year:
After getting my Tobacco Root fix, I turned my attention to Yankee Jim, more specifically the Hidden Valley – a new area Ho and I found a couple months ago. This small area is starting to become chock full of great easy to moderate problems. Last trip out I was lucky to put up one of the best V1′s I’ve done – the Ram’s Horn. It’s a perfect line of crimps and slopers up the back side of the largest and most aesthetic block in the whole area.
The Ram's Horn (chalk line on the right)
Lodged in the talus at the base of the Ram's Horn
Starting hold on the Ram's Horn
The next photo is the front side of the Ram’s Horn boulder. It’s hard to tell the scale of the boulder from the photo but it’s about 35 feet from the top of the boulder to the jumbled talus below. I wouldn’t even call these highballs, maybe deathballs? They look fantastic though and I may put in a top rope anchor sometime.
Frontside of the Ram's Horn boulder
Here’s another video of some of the best problems I’ve put up at the Hidden Valley:
Last, but not least, make sure you’ve got your calendar free on Saturday, August 27th – it’s the return of the Butte Bouldering Bash! Last year was a blast and it sounds like this year should be even better. Hope to see you at the Northern Bourbons! For more info check out Bouldering the Backwaters.
Lot’s going on at Yankee Jim nowadays. New areas, new problems and new projects galore. First off, over the last few weeks I put up three new problems at the Loco-Motives on what I’m calling the Crazy Train Boulder. This boulder is about 50 feet due south of the HO boulder and is super easy to find. It doesn’t have the best landing, but it’s managable with a couple pads. All three problems are high quality and worth doing. Here’s a video showcasing the three:
I also made it up to the new area Jeff and I found and put up a few new ones. No photos and the video didn’t turn out great, but there should be a bunch more problems there. That area, the Lower Hidden Valley, is one of two new confirmed areas. There are also a few other areas that haven’t been scouted but should produce some goods. Needless to say, Yankee Jim ain’t tapped.
Also, an excellent new problem was put up at what has to be one of the oldest bouldering areas in the state – the Yankee Jim Campground. The new one is a relatively old project that fell into obscurity until Jeff got re-psyched on it. Him and Jon Scott went out and did the obvious stand start calling it “Montana’s Most Wanted”. After a handful of ascents, it sounds like it will settle at V7 . There’s also a super good/hard sit start that adds a few moves and at least a few grades. Here’s a few photos of it from yesterday:
