A couple of weeks ago, Christine and I had the chance to boulder at Pipestone Pass (near Butte, Montana) for our first time.
Every time I had driven over Pipestone Pass along I-90, I had always noticed the thousands of boulders covering the hillsides. However, whenever I talked to people about it, they seemed to think that all of the boulders were blank and of pretty bad quality.
This weekend, however, we were lucky to get a tour from some guys who have been climbing in the area for a while--real local experts.
Because it was cold and snowy in the mountains, they took us to one of the lower elevation areas. We got to climb on a lot of established problems, and I was able to do a few really excellent first ascents, as well!
I think that this is one of the best areas I've climbed in Montana, and just walking around a little, we found so many future problems on great rock!
I'm really excited that bouldering season is starting in Montana, and I hope to post a lot of updates on this area in the future. Meanwhile, here are some photos from our first day at Pipestone.
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| Even with all the pads, the project remains undone. |
Leaving the interstate
Meeting up with our "guides"
Team brushing the "super mega project" from below
Team brusing the "super mega project" from above. Alex is holding my feet and making sure I don't die.
With this many pads, nobody has an excuse.
Henry climbing a technical v5.
Not bad at all!
Alex doing the first move of an awesome project.
Me working out the upper moves of the same problem.
Henry disliking a bad crimp.
Me bypassing the crimp. By the end of the day, I had done all of the moves on this problem. Now I just have to go back next weekend and put it all together!
The problem without anyone on it. This is going to be a classic.
