EEEH! My first day of actual climbing!
After ranting about my new-found love of bouldering at work last night, a co-worker suggested that we go out and climb over at Bozeman Pass today. She said her boyfriend had all the gear and that they would be willing to show me the ropes. Score! They picked me up this morning and we headed east on I-90 out of Bozeman into Bozeman Pass, a portion of highway cutting through a chunky spot in the Bridger Mountains connecting Bozeman to the eastern half of the state. At Exit 316 you pull off on the north side of the exit and hike about a mile in to the designated climbing area. The walk was quick but muddy from the melting snow layer that had undoubtedly disintegrated during the previously sunny days but before you knew it we were at the bottom of some sweet looking stone.
We were meeting another group of people, 3 guys and a girl, who were already roped in and climbing at Practice Wall. My group of 3 decided to scramble over to the next section of wall that offered some easier routes that were mostly rated 5.8 & 5.9 with some easy 5.10s. The rock climbing scale for sport climbing is on a 5-point system with 1 & 2 being walking on flat or inclined ground and 3 & 4 encompassing scrambling and light cimbing sections where a rope is not required. From there the scale moves into the 5 category ranging from 5.0-5.15 . The 5-point climbs define bolted-in routes including everything from the easy stuff you mastered at Girl Scout Camp to the super intense Yosemite-type climbs you see online. Today I climbed 4 routes that were in the 5.8-5.9 category with confidence and decent speed!
Since it was my first time climbing with new folks I honestly had no idea what to expect. I wasn't sure if they were going to be sending insanely technical routes that were way out of my league or if they were going to try and find some more simple stuff. I had not been roped in to anything since traversing the high ropes course when I worked for the Girl Scouts in college and that certainly seemed to be a whole other ball game from sport climbing. Not to mention I had already spent every day this week at the bouldering rocks in town so my arms were definitely feeling the strain of pushing my muscles to the limit. Much to my excitement, however, my trips to the bouldering rocks payed off in spades. All four routes that we chose were at a perfect level for a beginner of my level: I haven't climbed much but I am in solid physical condition which sets a great foundation for this type of climbing.
Wendy & Jordan showed me the basic knots, how to clip in and belay up & down, how to set up a rappel from the top. They clued me in to climbing terms like "beta" and "heel hold", "crux" and "send". I was amazed throughout the entire day at my heightened level of confidence, my seemingly nonexistent fear of heights, and my willingness to trust the ropes and the people belaying me. Not once did I look down and get scared, not once did I reach a point where I thought, "Oh boy, I am in over my head" or "I can't do this". All day long was a continuous flow of "You can do it" and "Yes I can". With every tiny grip or disappearing foothold I just clung harder to the rock and found the energy to pull myself up to the top. When the clouds passed over the sun and the wind blew in hard from the west my fingertips turned to little blocks of ice clutching onto frozen rocks but the intensity pushed me through and I found that next ledge to cling on or that final bump to prop my foot on. When the clouds blew past and the sun came out I leaned into the warm rock and soaked in the energy of the sun and the earth and felt so connected to my surrounding landscape. At the top of every climb I leaned back and up to see the beauty of everything around me that had been momentarily put out of mind while focusing on the climb. At the top you get to have that moment all to yourself to take in the beauty of the mountains and cliffs around you, see the world from a birds eye view, and maybe if you're lucky, see a bald eagle soaring overhead. After all, it is Montana.
~Mary Lane~
Bozeman, MT 3.29.13
For a more detailed description of the Climbing Scale and Rating System check out these links:
Link 1
Link 2
Ever since my trip to southern Utah in early February I have had the climbing itch. The red-rock climbing playgrounds of the southwest just wet my tongue for more climbing, which meant purchasing some new gear and doing some research about the basics of climbing. My favorite new "toy" is my pair of La Sportiva climbing shoes: they are so amazing! They allow my feet to grip the wall with their firm,
slender black rubber soles and give me the ability to rest the weight of my
entire body on a ledge a quarter inch thick- its pretty sweet.We have been watching a lot of videos on free climbers, bouldering, and rappelling and have scoured through the amazing selection of climbing books at the Bozeman library also. In addition to educational knowledge, we have been taking every advantage of safe climbing spots as they are in abundance in the Rockies! Our only problem this time of year is waiting for the days above ~45 degrees so that our hands stay limber and able to grasp the rocks.
This afternoon finally brought some warm temps back to the valley and with the sun shining bright we drove to the "bouldering" rock at Bozeman Pond Park. The bouldering rock appears pretty small and you might think it doesn't have much to offer, but rest assured that this hunk of fake rock has about 15 different sections for you to try in varying levels of difficultly from easy-breezy to woah- how do people do that? At the top you can lay around and catch the impressive view of the Bridgers hanging to the north of town and as soon as your hands rest from your ascent you can climb down a different route and test your skills. Today was very successful and I climbed up 4 of the sections with my spider-like La Sportivas- awesome!
On Saturday we headed 10 minutes north of town to the Sypes Canyon Trailhead located in a rural neighborhood in the Bridger foothills. The Bridger Mountains flank Bozeman & the Gallatin Valley to the northeast and run about 20 miles north, being characterized by a sharp spine of rock dominating the skyline for miles. Sypes Canyon meanders through the forest gaining 1100 feet of elevation over 2 miles of trail, beginning with a nice climb along a rock escarpment following above Sypes Creek. The trail swings down and follows along the snow covered creek lined with large Ponderosa pines, crimson willow branches, and other unidentifiable dormant plants, sleepy after a long winter. Spring is an interesting time to be hiking in the northern Rockies and it reminds me of winter in the southeast; brown and dry with little patches of snow. Trees and cliff-side that were exposed to the sun during the day were snow-free and warm while the inner canyon was still coated in a two foot-deep layer of snow.
The landscape we passed through was a maze of narrow dirt roads and an old rail-bed zigzagging in and out of the main gravel road. We saw several trailheads but noticed that everything but cars were allowed, meaning off-highway vehicles (OHVs) and that is a big red flag for Reuben and I. Nothing ruins a hike more than getting clouds of dirt and dust blown up into your face every ten minutes. Down that road at the "Four Corners" we acquired a map of the "OHV Pipestone" area we were traveling through, a section of BLM land bordering the forest service and we could see from the map that Delmoe Lake Road meandered 11 miles into the mountains before reaching the lake, which we determined would probably be inaccessible this time of year due to snow. We looked up from the map and from the parking area we could see a small mountain of rocks directly in front of us. We referred to our map and found out that we were looking at Spire Rock Flats- this was exactly what we had been looking for! 
