A large work load and winter weather have kept our outside climbing days way down. With little to report, this blog has grown quite stale. We've had some news the last few weeks of occasional parties heading up to Mill. Along with some early seepage on the Tiger Stripe, it sounds like there's been some climbing getting done. But all that changed Saturday. The sunshine and beautiful spring weather resulted in one of the biggest climber days we've heard of so far at the North Rim, with a head count of 17 at one point.
Regulars Michael and Tim were up there to witness the activity and Michael sent us this report,
Although we've had scattered reports of people making it up to the North Rim during this dreary spring, Saturday will be recorded as the official opening day. Bluebird skies and temperatures close to 60 brought climbers out of the woodwork. They also brought a few ticks out, but their numbers were paltry. Which is not to say we didn't pull a few of the pesky buggers off before getting in the truck for the ride home. Alas.
The day brought a mix of veterans and newcomers, an occurrence that led to the usual Mill social scene, with folks introducing themselves, exchanging phone numbers and talking of good climbing days to come. Folks climbed all over, in part because the Tick Farm looked like Grand Central Station and in part because, hey, there's great climbing all over. Kurt and Kat made their way up to Sabertooth, and Kurt made a valiant effort on toprope to tame Tiger Beat. A couple of other young strongmen climbed No Drama Obama, then made their way down to Kurt Krueger's nasty crack, Give and Take, on the west facing wall. They were a site to behold!
Tom Krummes came up with Tim Karst and me, and worked out on Sabertooth, Birthday Tick, Witness the Tickness and Ticked Off. He also spent a lot of time eying new route potential, including an amazing line above Krueger's crack.
Joshua Lisbon also made his first appearance, as did the extremely nice couple of Shane and Sarah, who recently moved to Missoula from Troy and the climbs of Koocanusa.
One thing was clear Saturday: There's a huge appetite for climbing at Mill, and that means more work needs to be done.
