Airborn Ranger

Submitted by ironsphoto on Tue, 12/12/2006 - 15:08
Fun climbing on Airborn Ranger with Nick on Dec 10. Dave and Ben also had great conditions on Cleos. Nick tried a new route just right of 21 stitches with a direct line from the bottom but did not finish it. Joe Irons [img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/airbornranger2.jpg[/img] [img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/airborn3.jpg[/img] [img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/airbornranger.jpg[/img] [img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/jeans.jpg[/img] [img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/designerjeans1.jpg[/img] [img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/designerjeans2.jpg[/img]

Nice job on the climbing, Looks like you might have established the direct to 21 stitches. Did you stop before the ledge with the bolt?? Are those demin jeans being used as modern climbing pants?? kristoffer Erickson

Hell yeah- that looks like awesome climbing! Great photos and as for the blue jeans... style definitely counts. Nice one!

After too many years of having my feet freeze at belays despite wearing fabulously expensive softshell gear, a moment of forgetfullness inspired my experiment with alternative fabrics. Three days of denim-clad ice climbing in normal winter conditions was more than enough to convince me of their merits. Supplemented with a pair of long underwear (pretty standard, I think), belays have never felt warmer, and ice climbers have never looked cooler. As far as I am concerned, it's a win-win situation that I will continue to partake in, but for some reason I don't think the softshell industry will suffer any losses. Regarding the climbing the conditions were excellent for the climbing on the Matriarch wall - much better, in fact, than the quality of the rock. The ice was well bonded (I was headed for the narrow runnel just right of 21 Stitches), but has since deteriorated. A fun mixed start was followed by a section of pleasant ice climbing, followed by rock climbing on beautiful, smooth cobbles protruding from a wall of baked mud. Holds for hands and frontpoints would often collapse unpredictably. After reaching the middle section of ice (last two photos), I decided that I much prefer climbing to roulette, and therefore bailed off a thread and headed for the Airborne Ranger. Memories of the pleasure of climbing Smear Today were too prevalent to feel the need to climb the "rock" near Cleo's. But for those interested, the free climbing will most certainly go to the ledge as a direct start to 21 Stitches or as an independent line, as I had envisioned it. Enjoy. Nick
Hyalite Archives