Dane captured Claudine in action, face-to-face with the crux at the top of Cougar Bait (5.11d). This gives an up close look at the "skyscraper" ledge and the amount of effort it takes to get through the tenuous heartbreaker section right at the end of the route.
The "rodeo move" -hang on! credit: Brandon
Many of you have no doubt seen evidence of a new route going up left of Big Science. Dane and Ken started it this winter, and Dane has since worked on it with Scott Goodwin, among others. The route is named Dark Matter. Here are a couple of pictures from early exploration of the direct start out the mouth of the small cave. Scott later managed to boulder this opening at around V7. The route is still in-progress. We'll let you know when it's ready (in the fall maybe?).
Finally, Kurt, for some time now, has placed Ken's Local Climber's status on suspension. Kurt cites Ken's frequent association with Bozeman climbers, as well as his numerous visits to areas either out of county or out of state. Not to disappoint, here's a picture of Ken taken a couple weekends ago by a Kurt agent in the Circuit Bouldering Gym, Portland, Oregon. (Shout out to Sam and Kirsten.) Following that is a link to a terrific blog post by writer and Bozeman climber Kelsey Sather that's worth checking out. Regular readers of this blog will recognize Kelsey and Leslie from Ken's Ten Sleep posts last year. Yes Kurt, more out-of-area climbers. We hope all this doesn't drive you to an early retirement!
There is a distinct line between dirtbag and scumbag. --Kelsey Sather
