Reflections from Hyalite Canyon

• 00 Introduction
• 01 Genesis II
• 02 Mummy Cooler II & The Scepter
• 03 Genesis I
• 04 Asteroid
• 05 Bingo Cave
• 06 Reflections

00 Introduction

I started ice climbing in 2023—well, actually, it started with drytooling—but my first time on ice wasn’t until January, 2024. Consuming as much online information as possible, I came across Will Gadd’s rule of toproping 150 pitches of ice before even considering to lead. By the end of my second season, I was at 51 full pitches of ice climbed. So when I received an invitation to climb in Hyalite Canyon for a week, I jumped at the offer, thinking that it might be obtainable to reach this magic number of 150 by doing laps upon laps on top rope (TR).

tldr: I did not accomplish this—not even close

What unfolded instead was a well-needed reality check; a recalibration of my perceived and demonstrated abilities on ice; and a refinement in my goals for climbing.

On Friday, December 5th, I left my NYC apartment at 5:30 am to catch an 8 am flight from LaGuardia. A 30 minute delay led to a missed flight transfer and an 8 hour layover in Atlanta—thanks Delta…. I arrived in Bozeman at 1 am, using a rideshare app to travel to the house rented by myself and a group of ice climbers all from the Northeast. The next morning, I finally got to say hello to all of the climbers I’d be sharing the house with for the next week. There was Pucci, Katie, and Vicky from New York; Lynda and Ted from Pennsylvania; and a new face, Ryan. I credit Lynda fully for being the catalyst bringing me to Montana; I met her at Birdsboro Quarry in my first year climbing outdoors. Through a coincidental trip to Rumney and subsequent ice climbing trips to the Adirondacks and Catskills, Lynda has connected me with a large majority of the climbers—especially ice climbers—I now know.

01 Genesis II

For our first day, we made the decision to check out the Genesis, or G1, wall. We were going to be a larger party and with most of us having no prior experience climbing at Hyalite Canyon, the short approach and access to the top made it a relatively low-commitment outing. The drive in proved to be spectacular; the area certainly earned the name “Big Sky”. Having spent most of my time in the Northeast, the size and scale of the mountain ranges out West still exceed my expectations every time I have the opportunity to visit.

We arrived at the trailhead with minimal issues and made the short approach to the G1 wall. The approach actually turned out to be longer than I was expecting—I’ve absolutely been spoiled by the roadside crags in the Northeast. When we finally got to the G1 wall, multiple lines were already up and being climbed on. Evidently, having a later start and choosing to visit one of the most popular areas with top-rope access in Hyalite Canyon on a weekend was not the winning combination. We ended up moving on, going up to the next tier which was creatively called the G2 wall. There was ice and no people so we set down our packs and got ready to climb.

Ryan took the first lead and followed a line to the right of G2. The ice was wet down low and pretty slushy but improved as it got higher. When he got to the top, he set up a TR and we were on our way to having a good day out. I got the first TR lap in and when I got to the top, I did a little mixed traverse to get to the tree line and set up a second line. With the two lines, our group of eight got some laps in. I ended the day with four laps and was pretty content with the first day out.

When we were heading out for the day, I stopped at the G1 wall to take a look at some of the adjacent drytooling routes. There were a few climbers on the drytooling routes and I chatted with one of the climbers belaying who happened to have the same North Face Verto FA boots as me. It was my first day out climbing in them so I didn’t have a fully formed opinion at the time. As I made way my past this climber, I heard him yell up to his partner Conrad who had just topped out the route. Thinking nothing of it, I meandered over to the main G1 wall to meet the crag dog, Howard, for some well-earned pets (he will return).

Once the rest of the group caught up to me at the G1 wall, we started heading down towards the parking lot when Lynda stopped to speak with one of the drytoolers who turned out to be Conrad Anker. The. Conrad. Anker. The legendary climber and alpinist who I knew primarily from the little known film, “Meru”. It didn’t even occur to me when I made plans to climb in Hyalite Canyon that Conrad’s home base was Bozeman, Montana.

Meeting Conrad was an incredibly special moment; he was incredibly nice and of course what a way to start our trip in Montana. Of course Lynda had to tell him all about Birdsboro Quarry (iykyk) and the drytooling routes that were being put up by Bob Perna. At the end, Conrad told us that the Scepter was in so with that information, we were already formulating our plans for the next day.

02 Mummy Cooler II & The Scepter

With Conrad’s beta, Ryan, Vicky, and I headed up towards the Amphitheater the next day and up towards Mummy Cooler II and the Scepter in the Mummy Middle Tier. We were also joined by Brandon, my friend from college and a graduate student at Montana State University. We made the approach with Pucci, Katie, Lynda, Ted, and a newcomer, White Jeans Brian (WJB), who stopped at the Amphitheater.

On our way towards the Mummy Middle Tier, we passed some climbers who were just getting off the Scepter and told us that it was free. Forging ahead, we turned a corner and there we saw the Scepter, Mummy Cooler II, and the beautiful crag dog Howard.

For the second day in a row, Ryan did the leading and climbed Mummy II. The start was a moderate WI2/+ flow with some crusty ice. It led up to a fairly steep and sustained pillar which then eased off to the bolts. Ryan built an anchor and was lowered to the bottom with the help of a 70m rope and some rope stretch. Brandon, Vicky, and I were all able to get a couple laps on the route and also got to try out a neat little variation that started further to the left with a steeper entry.

During Ryan’s lead, another group arrived and got on the Scepter. After our group got some laps on Mummy II, Lynda and WJB came up from the Amphitheater to check out the Scepter. Very graciously, the climbers on the Scepter offered to let us use their rope to TR the Scepter. In exchange, we let them do a couple laps on the rope we put up on Mummy II.

The Scepter had some really fun engaging climbing down low requiring some navigation over a mushroom bulge that was almost akin to roof climbing. After pulling the bulge, there was a nice little rest before heading up some sustained, steep climbing. The warm temperatures and previous climbers on the route made it so that only hooking was necessary. I was the last person to go up the route so after cleaning it, Brandon, Ryan, and I booked it down to the parking lot.

03 Genesis I

At this point, I had climbed consecutively for three days. The cumulative fatigue was setting in but I was still hopeful that I’d be able to get some big days of climbing in. Joined by Ryan and Nic, we devised an audacious plan of climbing the G1 wall, topping out, then going up to the second tier where there were some mixed lines we had our eyes set on. Once we got to the G1 wall, Nic chose a steep, dripping wet line to go up. He ended up backing off and I went around to the top to set up a TR instead. I ended up getting about 2 laps on the route then called it for the day. I was tired, sore, wet, and a bit hungry.

Our consolation prize was the Hide-A-Way Lounge & Liquor Store; a lounge, casino, and liquor store all wrapped in one. The burgers were excellent and the reuben fries decadent.

04 Asteroid

Four days on and at this point I really needed a rest day. We went down the Flanders road instead in search of some ice.

At this point, the temperatures were getting quite warm. We weren’t sure if the conditions would be conducive to good ice climbing as the nightly lows were barely reaching below freezing. The drives down the Hyalite Canyon road were getting slushy and melting out more each day.

Our plan was to head towards the Sleight of Hand area. Instead, we botched the approach and unknowingly ended up bushwhacking through Comet Alley. Not wanting to leave empty handed, we headed up a drainage that showed some promise of being trafficked earlier in the day. As we went up the melted out drainage, Nic, Pucci, Katie, WJB, and I found ourselves eying the base of a moderately inclined gully with ice.

After a short rest and snack, Nic and I went ahead, making our way up to the base of the gully. We went up a short ice bulge and then trekked up the snow-filled gulley. Eventually, we got up to some more ice. It was here that we encountered the climbers that broke the trail for us earlier in the day. It sounded like they had quite the adventure, getting their rope stuck in a v-thread on their rappel.

Nic and I went up the ice which turned out to be the first pitch of the Asteroid. The ice we climbed was pretty moderate with the left side being in WI2 conditions. We ended up soloing and made our way towards a tree anchor where we set up a rappel and TR for Pucci, Katie, and WJB who were down below.

What initially seemed like a let down in terms of the ice we’d climb turned into a really fun alpine-esque adventure. It was a really great outing with great views and great people—a perfect level of intensity for how tired I was feeling.

05 Bingo Cave

Now Bingo Cave is a place that has captivated my attention for the past few months. I knew that I wanted to go there and just see in-person the overhanging cave that was THE training ground of drytooling legends like Kevin Lindlau and Katie Stylos. The routes in the cave start at D9/10 and I knew I had very little business getting on these routes when my only previous experience was a relatively unconfirmed D6 at Birdsboro.

On Thursday, my fifth day on, I got to fulfill my dream of climbing in Bingo Cave. Ryan and I made the approach up towards the Unnamed Wall and as we cleared the tree line, Bingo Cave stood in front of us. I was honestly just psyched to see the cave, lined with its permadraws, containing numerous routes with sustained horizontal climbing.

In good fortune, there were some guides setting up lines to the left of Bingo Cave in preparation for the drytooling clinics that would be going on during the Bozeman Ice Fest. They very kindly let us use the lines which I greatly appreciated since I’d heard that the rock in Hyalite Canyon could be cryptic. I don’t know the name of the route I climbed but it was fun, engaging climbing that felt like it could be in the D4 range of difficulty.

We were then joined by Lynda, and to our right, WJB led the Thrill is Gone. I ended up going to the right of Bingo Cave to give a go on Panama Canal. With WJB belaying, I was able to make my way up the sustained, overhung, but well marked route, making it to the chains without falling. Going at D7, this was now the hardest route I had led on tools—I couldn’t help but wonder if the difficulty was negated by how well marked the holds on the route were.

Having led Panama Canal, my confidence level was pretty high. I decided to give a go on Straits of Gibraltar (D9/10) which is about as far right as you can go while still considering it to be in Bingo Cave. The start goes up a thin crack up to some overhung moves in the cave. After pulling the bulge, it’s just vertical face climbing to the chains.

I did not make it past the overhang. I ended up taking after getting my first tool in the roof. The introductory climbing to the roof pumped me out a little and I spent a lot of time hesitating at the first roof hold. I ended up going from bolt to bolt all the way to the top, pulling on bolts with my tools. It definitely was not in the best style and I don’t think I can personally say that I even climbed the route. I’m okay with that though because at the time, I was already planning my return—during the trip and also in the coming months.

That night, suitably worked from the day of climbing, we had dinner at the Haufbrau House. There I met Cameron, my next victim—ahem, climbing partner—for the next day. Given the warm temperatures, I convinced Cameron to drytool with me at Bingo Cave.

The next day, we met up and I made my second trek up towards the Unnamed Wall. It was quite busy already due to the drytooling clinic, but we were able to find a route with a set of bolts that had no climbers. I believe that the route was called Into the Void (D6) but can’t confirm. A guide belaying next to us mentioned that the route was put up relatively recently and had not seen much traffic.

The route was almost exactly 35m and I used up all of my quickdraws with some runouts in between. There was quite a bit of loose rock so this made for engaging climbing. Once I got down, Cameron followed up the route, making it his first drytooling route in Hyalite Canyon.

We headed for Bingo Cave next where we found a group of climbers on Straits of Gibraltar. It turns out that they were also coming from New York—one of them had even drytooled at Tyler Kempney’s gym in Albany. I decided that since I went bolt-for-bolt on Straits, I might as well get on Northwest Passage (D11) for fun and experience. I ended up taking a small fall at the fourth or fifth bolt right below the roof. Continuing on, I went into the first roof move where I quickly pumped out and lowered off the permadraw.

Once again, I had a rather unimpressive showing at Bingo Cave, but I had a lot of fun and gained a ton of respect for climbers who put in the work to climb in the cave. I can’t stress enough how cool the features in the cave were—from the hidden pockets and hooks to the sheer horizontal nature of the cave. This was absolutely a highlight of the trip and I will be back soon.

In an even more serendipitous fashion, we ran into Kevin Lindlau, the “King of Bingo Cave”, at the Black Diamond tent in the canyon parking lot. I had previously met him in Albany where we had a very brief interaction. Despite this, he very generously invited me to the Mountain Project in Bozeman to train the next day.

I’m very rapidly reaching 3,000 words and I can go on about everything I learned from that training session with Kevin, Wilson Whitley, and JC DuBeau. However, I’ll just leave some of the photos from the training session here.

06 Reflections

In conclusion, this trip exceeded all of my expectations, except one. I didn’t end up TRing lap after lap on ice. This is something that I quickly became okay with. My naïveté going into the trip underestimated how long the approaches and setup would take. Furthermore, I’ve never climbed seven days in a row.

The length of the trip was short enough that I thought I would be wasting a day if I rested. However, it was also long enough that I probably should have and could have taken a day off. I have no regrets though as I don’t think I would have had as rich of an experience if I deprived myself of a day out climbing.

The people I met from legends like Conrad, Kevin, and Katie Stylos (I didn’t even mention her or her incredible new film!) to local climbers and everybody in between really made my experience so memorable. Half of my days out were just spent socializing and (selfishly) finding partners for the future.

I think that with this trip, I’ve learned a lot more about how my body responds to the cumulative fatigue of climbing multiple days in a row as well as how it performs in different conditions. I’ve also come to the realization that 150 TR laps under the same conditions would be unhelpful for my development as an ice climber. I think that the number of pitches is appropriate; however, the caveat is that they should be done under a wide range of conditions.

The conditions in Hyalite Canyon were particularly warm and with that, I got to experience the “hero sticks” and plastic ice. Furthermore, I was able to test out a variety of gloves ranging from golf gloves and thin Aniiu gloves for drytooling to thicker gloves like the Temres and Aniiu Viinson MX for climbing ice. I also refined my layering system and pack choice for the given objective.

As I approach a longer trip dedicated to climbing as much as possible, I’m now much more focused on trying to experience as many different types of climbing conditions as possible. I think it’ll prepare me better in achieving many of my personal goals. As for pitches of ice, I’m at 62 and counting.