Me on the second pitch.... first of the two jade faces, incredible feature at 5.11.  Photo: John Dickey

In August 2015, I made my annual pilgrimage into the Wind River Range of Wyoming and for the third time I returned to the massive walls of Mount Hooker.

Big bang from a small package... The MTR 201 Rainspeed jacket is designed for trail running but it's at the top of my list for rain protection plus it only weighs an unbelievable 210g.  Being an alpine climber, I obsess about weight and functionality with all of my Mammut products.

Well up here in Montana winter has come early and my autumn plans for rock climbing have been cut short.  Very frustrating but as the saying goes..... "it is what it is".  This got me thinking about my rock climbing trip to the Wind Rivers back in August.  With the crummy weather a perfect opportunity to share.

Mount Hooker had been on my hit list for years.  It has a massive north facing wall that rises 2000 feet off the valley floor.  It has a long history that starts with the first ascent in 1964, making it Americas first wilderness Grade VI.   It's a 15 mile approach to get to the wall so it requires a bit of logistics especially if you plan on spending some time.  I planed for a two week trip with Josh Wharton and John Dickey. We hired an outfitter to pack our loads as far as they could.  It was helpful but we still had to do a double carry from the drop site up and over Hailey Pass to set up for the week in our base camp. 

Recon on our first objective, a new route on this east facing wall off the shoulder of Mt. Hooker.

The start of a two week climbing trip began with a first ascent in the Bear Tooth Mountains of Montana/Wyoming.  I had put a week of effort into this route starting in May before my brother Sam and I made the free ascent on the 19th of August.  We called this 8 pitch line the Velvet Hammer 5.12.

Bozeman, Montana's Spire Climbing Center held its annual Spring Fling competition on Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13.

This two-day event features an adults-only Friday evening competition and a Saturday kids comp.

Over the course of the preceding work week, staff and volunteers strip the gym's entire main room of holds. These are then washed and assembled into routes over the course of 3.5 days (Tues, Wed, Thurs and early Fri). This is done in phases (i.e. one side of the gym at a time) in order to leave as much of the gym open to the public for as long as possible during the setting process.

Because of multiple finger injuries, I did not compete--but instead I worked as a route setter. Over the course of three days, I made 8 routes--each of which took me 3-4 hours to build. (I'm guessing that's a pretty average pace.)

This year, Spire's whole crew created 69 routes. If other setters were working at a rate of ~3.5 routes/ hr, this comp represented more than 240 man hours of route setting alone. That's not to mention all of the time spent stripping the walls, washing holds, fore running and scoring routes, cleanup, etc...

Though it was exhausting, the entire project was extremely fun to be a part of. I took many pictures of the process (below), and wrote an article on the competition for The Bozeman Magpie.

Check out the article here:

http://www.bozeman-magpie.com/thebigmt-full-article.php?article_id=677

And results here:
http://spireclimbingcenter.com/main/news.htm

Mammut athlete, Whit Magro, took second place for the men's adult open category. Good job, Whit!

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

All the climbing comps and cragging paid off because it's all training for the big mountains and the rich experiences they bring.

A photo story from Patagonia, the West Face of Cerro Torre via the Ragni Route.  My team consisted of Dave Kotch out of New York City and Carsten V. Birckhahn from Switzerland.  I have Dave to thank for making the trip happen and Carsten to thank for his boundless energy and incredible photography skills and for the fact that he was okay with me using them.  Thanks Carsten!  We made the summit on January 25, 2013.



 Carsten and Dave
 West Face of the Torre group
 Twilight 7.5's is action...
 Inspiration below huge granite.  Torre Egger and Cerro Torre.
 Climbing started at 11:30 pm
 What time is it?  So tired.
 The head wall pitch.
 Emerging into the sun finally.
 No pro rime climbing.
Me and Dave on the summit
 Descending.  Cool photo Carsten!
 Rap, rap, rap.....
 Safe on the valley floor
A tired and happy crew.  Thanks guys!


Whit Magro
Bozeman, MT

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