You cant see but that is a huge grin on my face! gotta luv Ice Fest
Its been an amazing month and continues to only get better. The lack of blog post= Lots of climbing with the incredible wolf pack posse. I will have many updates to come and almost done with the next episode of "The Regulators" but for now I will leave you with a few pics of the past few days of climbing. A great day for training in Ouray yesterday! Kevin Craig on 2nd pitch of Chockstone
Im here in Ouray training to become a mix climber for the competition in a little over a week so I will try to make some daily posts to follow my mental beatings!
Im happy to announce the first season of The Regulators. This will be the first of many episodes this winter following our tracks as my partners and I roam the ranges of Montana and Wyoming in search of adventure. More to come.......
Dont miss the 5th Annual Portland Ice Festival. I will be presenting at the festival this year and if your in the area or not it will be a great time. The festival will also be raising money for a good cause to support access in Hyalite Canyon. I will also be in Seattle on the September 25th Presenting at Feathered Friends if you cant make the Portland show...more information to come!
Stumbling through maps and google earth sometimes you find that One.
The One keeps you up at night with visions of bedrock granite, waterfalls, tight gorges and gorgeous women on the banks cheering your name as your runnin the shit...
Unfortunately not all of these things come true and on some missions none of them come true. This spring we decided to check out a creek that I have been romancing over for a few years. On paper it had steep gradient ,deep canyon walls and best of all a short hike. In April I talked Matt Mcfadden and Randy Binder into scouting the gorge with me before spring flows began filling the banks. What we found was a steep unrelenting creek with a little bit of everything! A drop on Shell creek on the way over the mountain...Better Boof!
Just a few pics of the canyon we scouted. It appeared to be nonstop action through most of the creek.
Getting steeper
You gotta click on this one for a bigger picture to read the sign.
Not sure this access made sense... A cold night of camping on the ground and we woke up to snow showers.
What we found was surely going to be a classic run. Stay tunes in for part 2 ! The Romance pays off!
In mid may Rusty Willis and myself ventured into upper Rock creek in search of an elusive icicle Mr. Stan Price told us about and I think we either didnt see it or Stan sent us youngsters out to earn our keep. We ended up seeing some great potential lines but nothing worked out and we didnt bring our skis so we limited our traveling abilities. We saw one wall in particular that looked like it would have something with the right conditions and so I decided to venture back the next day armed with Skis.
Rachel questioning my decision to continue...
Rusty was not able to make it the next day and with very little time I had to talk someone into going with me. All my usual partners were either to far away or not into a Mulkey Mission but Rachel Gaidys had never climbed with me before so she didnt know any better. lol
Rachel following up the 2nd pitch
After about an hour of skiing we came around a buttress and a very thin runnel of ice dropped from high above the wall down through a series of chimney systems. It appeared to be very thin but doable. I think when we both left the car we figured our chances of actually climbing something were very thin but turned out it was a our lucky day.
Rachel enjoying the thin top out!
This is the start of the 2nd pitch which provided some exciting rock climbing in the book fold.
Me on the 3rd pitch. It was very thin climbing that led to incredibly good alpine ice at the top.
Some good climbing puts a smile on anyones face.
One last fun chunk of ice at the end of the 4th pitch
Rachel toping out on possibly her first ascent ever !
1st pitch follows the snow gulley and across the snow ledge to the left. then follow the obvious runnels to the top.
The route was super good and provided almost 900feet of climbing. We found the potential new route to be WI4 M6 but some good ice could make this route much easier. The gear was pretty good but had some runout sections that kept me on my game. We named the route Splitsville WI4 M6
I have been using there gear for the last 6 months in some of the harshest environments while ice climbing and kayaking and I have walked away from each adventure happy that I had chosen there gear for the trip. I was a little concerned when the feather weight jackets and pants arrived but they have proven themselves in many different climates and terrain. The clothing and sleeping bags are some of the lightest and most weight efficient gear I have ever used.
Beartooths Love....
Deep in the heart of the wind rivers
Im happy to say that I gave Rab's gear a very hard test drive before deciding to partner with them. Multiple days of ice climbing in one of the most remote destination in the U.S. to sleeping in nothing but my jacket and pants deep in one of Arizona's most remarkable whitewater chasms, the Rab name proved itself warm and efficient.
Rab is obviously a big name in the UK but there presence is surely going to consume the American market with the incredible product they are representing.
Just happy to see ice and be warm warm but wishing we could see something....
I look forward to the future and appreciate Rab for there support for what I love to do !
I apologize for the lack of blogging.....life seems to have gotten the best of me lately!
This Spring "Mulkey Missions" got the best of everyone physically and mentally. There were many miles driven and at least one car that blew up (you will see video soon) and many miles hiked. One day consisted of hiking 13 miles dragging a kayak loaded with overnight gear over snow with no reward. lots of incredible climbing in the beartooths and a blizzard in June. I got the beating of a lifetime in a hole and lived to tell the story of an epic first decent into an amazingly steep unrelenting canyon of whitewater. With so many stories to tell its been hard to find the time as one of the best adventures started in June with the arrival of my kids coming to spend the summer with me. So for now all I have to offer is a taste of what's to come as my kids and I head out for our big summer road trip and I hope everyone is having some great adventures of their own this summer!
We didnt get much footage of the run but here is what we were able to gather. As you can see from the first footage I boat with good friends who are always concerned about my safety!
This is the most recent featured story on Alpinist.com. I appreciate there coverage and support thank you Alpinist! Click here for the story....
Special thanks to all of my partners who keep my drive alive and continue to motivate me each season. Without my great partners the explorations would not happen.
