Ice Breaker

The Hyalite Ice Breaker Last Thursday may have been one of my best days of climbing in Hyalite Canyon and for me Hyalite represents the majority of my ice climbing memories. I learned to ice climb south of Bozeman and it was Hyalite that shifted my way of thinking about climbing. Hyalite has always had it?s own form of hard climbing, mostly because of the rock quality and through my numerous adventures in the canyon I slowly became fascinated with the various forms of geology that make up the structure of climbing for Hyalite. I enjoyed the geology because of the beautiful Hyalite crystals that give it the name but also because the rock is so poor at times. In places the Hyalite climbing enters into a more psychological realm, much different than climbing when you know the rock is going to stay where it?s been for the last thousand years. In some ways the rock could be considered a similar medium as ice and is constantly changing. The one thing in life we all know will happen is change and Hyalite is undergoing a different type of change this time. With events like the Ice Breaker, Winter Dance going free and the new hard, really hard mixed routes in the Bingo Cave, Whit Magro said, ?this year in Hyalite we are having a climbing revolution.? and I couldn?t agree more. At various times in my late teens and early twenties I was fortunate to have Alex Lowe drag me around Hyalite Canyon. He would be nearly running or hiking at the speed that to me seemed as though I was about to hit my anaerobic threshold and the entire time be talking about various climbs throughout the canyon. I found myself most of the time running to keep up, arriving at the base of the routes just in tow and panting from exhaustion. Alex often talked about linking various climbs in a day and showed me the potential of ski mountaineering in Hyalite by climbing Cleo?s and then hauling skis up to ski in the cirque above. I felt as though every time I went out with Alex my eyes were being opened a little further, a new day of what was possible and always through giving the gift of his energy and drive that seemed to flourish on a full day in the canyon. The joy of what that full day of climbing meant to Alex can now be better understood by all those that participated with the 1st Annual Ice Breaker. I personally had one of the best days of climbing in one of my favorite places and I?m fairly sure everyone that participated in the Ice Breaker feels probably similar. To have nine hours to climb as many pitches as you can by running around Hyalite Canyon is like no other climbing event held. It has similarities to the Russian speed climbing at altitude, randonee races on skis, and just plain hard alpine climbing except this athletic event has it?s own unique form of hard. Besides providing a perfectly good reason to have one of your best days climbing, locallally the Ice Breaker is the event that will change the way we perceive ice climbing in Hyalite. Congratulations to everyone that participated in the Ice Breaker, we all helped to open new climbing potential learning what was possible with the number of pitches done and various hardest pitches linked. For me it was the greatest honor to return the favor over a decade later and show my new friend and partner for the event, Pierre Darbellay from Switzerland, the beauty and spirit that was first shown to me by having one of my best days climbing in the Canyon. Here are a few of my favorite pitches from the day! Kristoffer Erickson. [img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/2007_1129_CLI_%2038%20(2).jpg[…] [img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/2007_1129_CLI_%2054%20(2).jpg[…] [img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/2007_1129_CLI_%2075%20(1).jpg[…] [img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/2007_1129_CLI_%2098%20(2).jpg[…] [img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/2007_1129_CLI_%20112%20(1).jpg…]