Cooke City Area Archives

Trevor, Spencer and I went out to cooke city area this last saturday and climbed the the silver gate routes ( center and right) which were in fat compared to the pictures in winter dance. I suggest to anyone looking to get out of the bozone to head down the area is really awsome. Can't wait to get back and climb on barronette. Bryan Schmitz

Well the detective work continues. On Saturday Cloe and I were climbing on Barronette Mtn. on what is described in Jojo?s Winter Dance as Renewable Resources. Due to prior emailing with Tom Kalakay it appears as though the route RR has been mislabeled in the guidebook and is located just down and left of Dancing with the Hippo, the middle pitch in the three tiered cliff.

[img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/_overview3.jpg[/img] the pillar on the right of the photo is dancing with the hippo. the next drainage to the left (hard to see) is jim and jeff's excellent adventure img][img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/triage3.jpg[/img] 1st &3rd pitches yet to have been climbed. we did what we think was the 1st ascent of "let it come down" WI 5+, 35m.

Just got in from Silver gate.The gate clmb was thin but in .. A nice mixed varraiton on clmbers left kept the adrenalin going . a nice line up the middle offered good pro. The Three Sliver gate climbs were still verry thin, left a pin in in the left climb and raped out about 35 meeters up. (would like it back if someone gets to it before it gets coverd) . Baronet is looking good. We diddnt climb any do to the dogs,but scouted for a while and recomend checking them out before gong to silver gate. The hippo looks good! As well as some others...

Stayed in Cooke City last weekend Nov.12th 13th. More of a getting familiar with the area trip for me. Sure there was nothing in shape to get on. Walked up to Silver Gate Climbs, Center and Right. Both in ultra thin shape. Center was formed to the ground, the size of a telephone pole. On drive home could see Barronette Falls and Dancing with the hippo from the pullout. Looked thin even in the blizzard conditions. Could not see Abiathar Peak in blizzard. Walked into Ice Box canyon. Could have tooled around on a few of the flows in the canyon. Still waiting. P.S.

On Thursday 3/10, it was very nice at bottom but getting a bit baked on top where it eases off. Silvergate Right (hard for 3+!) and Center were also very good. Most Barronette climbs looked bleached from the road.

Checked out Silver Falls Sunday. It looked good, but was very thin to the hose underneath. Also full of air bubbles. I can't imagine a screw would hold any sort of fall. We decided to pass. Climbed the left side of Park Gate on Monday. It was very wet, actually slushy near the top with large (3-4 ft) blocks coming off with every swing at the very top. Neither one will be worth much for long if some colder weather doesn't show up soon.

:D To ring in the New Year a group of us were down enjoying the mountains around the Cooke City area and ended up climbing on Barronette mountain. Half our group went climbing on the lower Barronette falls while my partner and I wandering over for some dancing lessons on the quickly becoming classic, Dancing with the Hippo. Barronette Falls is in good shape with some bad ice in places due to recent cold and snowy conditions. The hippo has been eating well this year and has a larger waistline than the first ascent last year.

We climbed Silver Falls on Sat. afternoon Jan. 1. It is in big and mostly solid except for the top third when the angle kicks back. I suppose this is typical for this climb because of the high volume of water. The top center was thin. I punched all the way through the ice a few times with my tools or crampons and got a look at the water flowing underneath. Sticking to the edge offered slightly more solid ice (where the ice touches the rock.

Coming down to Cooke City next weekend Dec 3,4,5. Anybody know what's in?