Trad Climbs

We wound up with a picture from the hike in the other day that does a great job of illustrating the concentration of cracks on the east side of the amphitheater. Since the majority of these climbs owe credit in one form or another to Kurt Krueger, we'll include the Green Bay Packer symbology used in the guide to denote a North Rim trad line.

Not Just Sport Climbs

• Because It's There (5.9R) Concept by Kurt Krueger. FA B.Hapak, K.Hanson, June 2011. Second Ascent K.Krueger, M.Moore.
• Li'l Crack (5.7) FA T.Karst, K.Krueger, July 2010.
• Give and Take (5.11-) Opened by K.Krueger, T.Karst. FA J.Selwyn, Sep 2010.
• Didn't See It But It's There (5.9) FA K.Krueger, Sep 2011.
• Because This One Is Also There (5.9-) FA K.Krueger, Aug 2011.
• Because You Can't Ask For More (5.9) FA K.Krueger, Sep 2011.
• Wild At Heart (5.8) FA Alec Sundet, Aug 2011.

As stated in previous blog posts, some of the "Cracktrilogy" climbs (the three rightmost cracks in the image) had signs of previous ascents. We welcome history of who climbed them and when. Until such a time, we've used the names and ascent dates from Kurt.

Now rack up and go plug some cams!

Scary Math

Pictured left: Dane near the top of Scary Math, prepping the route.

A favorable forecast lured eight of us up to the North Rim on Saturday. Although gusty winds kept things colder than we had hoped, six climbers, including Tim, Brian, Olin, Pierce and Mill first-timers Phil and Andrea, enjoyed routes on the Tick Farm and Tiger Stripe wall in what are still unseasonably mild conditions for January. Dane and Ken, however, continued work on Scary Math, doing some top-to-bottom cleaning and adding two final bolts. We are pleased to announce the route is ready to climb!

Scary Math looks like it will offer plenty of steep, pumpy challenges. It's 85 feet long and overhangs about 30 feet. After a bouldery 5.11 intro, it climbs continuously through one bulge or roof after another. The route is just right of Big Science (click on the sidebar image and zoom in; you can see fixed draws on Big Science), which needs to have two bolts repositioned and a bit more cleanup before it is also ready to climb. Our personal objective is to begin redpoint attempts in early spring.

We're psyched to have two routes established in what is currently the North Rim's steepest sector. There's definitely critical mass forming here, and we expect these routes will attract a lot of climbers looking for steep terrain in the Missoula area.

Brian bustin' the North Face outdoor model pose.

If you find June, you've found Ken.

Tree Down at Tick Farm

Brent Anderson headed up to the North Rim for some climbing the week between Christmas and New Years. In addition to 40 degrees and "perfect" rock, he found that one of the large dead trees in the amphitheater had fallen. Thanks go out to Brent for the following report,

The big tall dead pine tree below the Tick wall has blown over. It fell parallel with the trail and broke apart on a switch back in the trail. We cleaned up what we could, but really needed a hand saw to get the big limbs out of the way. So next time you guys head up or you know a group that is, you might want to take a hand saw with you.