Heather Lords climbing Jigawatt 5.11+ at the Portal in Pass Creek Canyon, Idaho

 It was a long, hot, and dry summer here in Idaho. Massive wildfires raged on during portions of August with little to no rain most of the month. Temperatures remained above average for July and August. Meanwhile, we did our best to chase the shade and climb. As September arrived, Heather and I concluded our new routing efforts at various local crags.

Idaho

The Esoteric Project - Arcane

It's been a busy spring season with a lot of airport time and various Mammut sponsored events across the country. As always, it's great to get out and see friends and climb with other Mammut athletes at these events. There is somewhat of a lull in events this time of the year which allows me to focus on getting some fitness at my home crags.


Heather Lords warming up on Mr. Hanky 5.12a - South Park photo: Dean Lords

This year has been amazing for ice in Utah. It has been nice to set aside some of my skiing adventures to spend some time on the ice and meeting new people. A month ago Mammut team manager Dean Lords invited me to the Ouray Ice festival. Always up for something new I decided it would be a good experience to see and meet some new people. On arrival I was able to meet two of Mammuts ice climbing athletes Whit Magro and Andrea Charest. Although temps were sub freezing and the space heater at the tent wasn't enough to keep warm there was plenty of cool stuff going on to keep the mind off of being cold and focused on the festival.

Whit and Andrea pretty happy after the comp.


 Andrea had the first route of the day for the comp. Amazed that she did so well, especially for how cold it was.

 Whit on the mixed route. He took 4th in the mixed comp and second in the speed comp. Congrats man.
So after Ouray it was back to Utah. With some new friends and some new excitement to climb ice, I was on a mission to get out and see what conditions were around home. My new friends Matt and Sarah park were eager to get out as well and we had heard that the Spear of Fear in Joe's Valley was in and ready to go. I had seen pictures of it before and was pretty excited to actually get to be on it. We found it in great condition and had an amazing day and scored some great photos.
Next on the list was Maple canyon. Maple has always been well known for summer time climbing, but there is also wold class ice climbing there when conditions are in. Just so happens that they were some of the best conditions on years.
Sarah watching her newly wed husband climb the Spear of Fear.

This last month has been really amazing and the friendships I have made will last for many years to come. Special thanks to Dean and His wife Heather. Possibly two of the nicest and genuine people I have ever met. I could not have done it without you guys.

Dean and Heather wrapping up after a successful Ice Festival.



Steve Lloyd

Ouray Ice Park - Colorado

The 2013 Ouray Ice Festival in Colorado went off without a hitch thanks to our Mammut athletes and staff! Climbers world-wide attended the festival to celebrate the sport of ice climbing, learn tricks and tips from professional athletes and to watch some of the best mixed climbers in the world compete during the 18th annual event.

Box Canyon is where the Ouray magic happens - Andrea Charest on the mixed comp route

Mammut athletes, Andrea Charest and Whit Magro competed in both the Elite Mixed Climbing Competition and the Hari Berger Speed Climbing Comp. Both athletes also taught participants during daily clinics throughout the weekend!


Clinic participants gearing up in Vendor Row

Women's mixed climbing clinic with - Andrea Charest

Andrea Charest with her clinic participants

We had a great time meeting new friends and providing Mammut demo equipment for a large crowd of enthusiastic ice climbers.

Heather Lords kept folks engaged and entertained at the Mammut booth

... and with the occasional down time, we kept ourselves warm with Ambler Jackets and entertained with food and hot drinks at the Mammut booth in vendor row!

Steve Lloyd warming up a snack!

This was Andrea's first competition at the Ouray Ice Festival. Despite below zero temps and being the first athlete to attempt the route, she climbed strong and with confidence. I was psyched to see her compete so well!

Andrea Charest

Andrea calm and collected at -6 degrees Fahrenheit

Stylin' on the steeps!

Whit Magro also had a very strong run on the mixed comp route; easily picking up the 4th place title!

Mag-Daddy Whit Magro!

Right at home for Whit!

Whit sussing out the next section



Tough love with the Tuna Roll

The Speed climbing comp was a new addition this year to the Ouray Ice Festival. It provided a nice high-speed experience for athletes and spectators and was surely a home run addition to the festival!

Andrea Charest racing in the speed comp

By Sunday evening, Ouray Colorado was returning to a sleepy mountain town as many of the event participants and vendors headed home. It was easy to see the satisfaction on many faces from yet another spectacular Ouray Ice Festival. We'd like to thank all of the volunteers, participants and vendors who make the Ouray Ice Festival possible. Looking forward to 2014! We hope to see many of you return to Ouray next year!

~ Dean Lords

Stephen Elmer mid-crux on EDS 5.13a at South Park. F.A. Matt Tengiao. One of the best, if not the best route at South Park.

Working on my project, In Between Days at South Park. The basalt at South Park is very unique and challenging to climb. The steep angle and open-handed jugs, desperate slopers, and pinches are a blast!

Heather Lords crimping her way through Drive-by Trucker 5.12c at South Park. A long and sustained route with big moves and techy sequences.

Heather Lords on Drive-by Trucker. Got lock-off strength??

The Temptation project at South Park. Pinchers of power!

Stephen Elmer working on Hustle and Flow 5.13a at the Pointless Crag. This is a short route with a very perplexing crux!



Heather Lords fighting her way up Black Betty 5.12a at the Pointless Crag. A steep swell of black bulging basalt. Cryptic and POWERFUL! ~ Dean Lords



It's been a pretty dry winter here in Idaho but we are having some success exploring new terrain in the remote Lemhi Mountains in eastern central Idaho. Here's a short edit of our ski descent down the southeast face of an unnamed 10,424' summit.



Dean Lords

Whew! Talk about being ridden hard and put away wet! My keeper finally took me out of my box to clean me up after my road trip down to the New River Gorge in West Virginia last month. He just ducked out for lunch so I'm going to give everyone my take on the New River Rendezvous-one of my favorite events ever!

The Crew, made up of Ian Connor (Mammut marketing coordinator), Dean Lords (Mammut athlete) and Peter Kamitses (Mammut athlete) and myself (giant Mammut Mastodon) headed down South in our rented RV. I wish I had some funny stories to tell you about the drive, but the humans made me ride in the cargo compartment. It sounded like a good time, I could hear laughing and music coming from inside. I'll admit, I was a bit nervous about this trip. Last year the local park rangers pulled my plug after I was just beginning to stretch from my travels and I spent the rest of the event in my box. My keeper promised things would be different this year and I grudgingly agreed to go. So after 14 hours of driving we arrived.

I didn't see much that first day but I heard Pete went climbing. That guy is an animal (no pun intended) and he was intent on climbing some 5.13's. He came back Friday evening totally stoked about climbing in The New. Here's a picture of Pete throwing down...

Anyway, while the Crew talked to folks out in the tents I got myself psyched for my first appearance of the event. I was a little nervous...who wouldn't be? I didn't know if folks down in West Virginia liked mastodons, would the park service pull my plug again, would my keeper REALLY set me up on top of the RV like he promised? I still hadn't even seen the light of day yet! But I could hear the music, smell all the people (mastodons don't see very well, but we have an exceptional sense of smell!) and the food...wow, I was ready to chow down! But I had a job to do first.

Finally around 10:00pm, Ian and Dean got me ready to go. I was a little concerned about the power lines overhead but Ian said not-to-worry. So up I went on top of the RV. Peolpe stopped and looked in awe! Come on, how many times do YOU see a 25ft mastodon on top of an RV? But I felt like The Man up there in all my Mammut glory, lights shining on me...it was glorious!

After an hour the park service guys said I had to come down...too close to the power lines apparently (I TOLD them!), but it was one of my proudest moments ever!



Saturday night everyone at The 'Vous was in great spirits! I bought the beer for the entire campground, the band sounded great, the kid's were pulling down in the dyno comp, and there was more great food. Even the rain didn't dampen the party. The Crew was busy talking with people and I thought they forgot about me but then Lee, Pete, Ian and Dean plugged me in. Ben and Ronnie helped me out of the way of the power lines and there I was...back feet on the RV and front feet on the tents!