Montana Ski Patrol 07/08; Mountains.....

Well I have gotten all settled in to my new job on ski patrol at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, MT. We actually started working the week after Thanksgiving and opened the mountain the 14th of December. Prior to that was training and mountain set up. Since then I have managed 38 days of skiing. We work 4 days on, on our normal schedule and the 3 days off usually get spent skiing at Big Sky Resort, Lone Peak, which is adjacent to the Club.

I like the mornings best of all. This is the view on any given morning as we unload the lifts to set up and open the mountain. We typically arrive to work at 7:30 dress, meet and get out the door by 8. The exception to this is on avalanche control mornings which may require an earlier start depending on how much control work needs to be done but even then, you can't bomb in the dark.

Days are spent setting up and sweeping the mountain for changing conditions and possibles accidents. Manual control work (shoveling cornice, z cutting slopes and general snow pack assessment) is done every morning on the steeper terrain and runs are opened or closed accordingly. Our day time work load typically includes drills on toboggan handling, medical continuing ed and/or avalanche transceiver (beacon) drills mixed in with responding to wrecks and general trail maintenance. This is a view of Pioneer Mountain, our main mountain at the Club. It stands at 9860' and offers plenty of steep terrain off the main ridge with excellent tree skiing off the back. In this picture you are looking South, Southwest along the ridge proper. In the background, you are looking down the Madison range toward Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, on the right is the Madison Valley. This is the work mountain.

Next is Lone Peak (11,166') a.k.a. Big Sky Resort. Not to be confused with the town of Big Sky that I live in. There is Big Sky Mountain Resort and Big Sky unincorporated town, MT USA. I live in Big Sky town, play at Big Sky Resort (Lone Peak) and work on Pioneer Mountain. You are looking at the south face of Lone Peak which is lift served from by a tram that runs just over the ridge on the right. Most of the lifts operate just over the ridge, out of site. The south face view shows some of the more challenging skiing. There is a lot of skiing above tree line. This is the play mountain.

All work and all play without infatuation would be a dull life. This is Cedar Mountain (10,719'), ain't she grand. Cedar lies to the west of Pioneer and Lone Mountains in the Lee Metcalf Wilderness. This undeveloped peak shows off almost all day, everyday. Cedar will get blocked out by storms but sometimes even under 30-50 mph winds and near white-out conditions if you look up, you can still see her sitting there just as peace full as you please. Cedar Mountain doesn't have the easiest access but offers a world of backcountry skiing, climbing and is just real fun to look at. This is the daydream/inspiration mountain.

My current mailing address is:
Warren Harden
P.O. Box 160091
Big Sky, MT 59716

Shipping address is:
Warren Harden
Glacier Condo # 133
2575 Curley Bear
Big Sky, MT 59716

I hope this finds everyone well and I wish everyone a happy and healthy new year.

Best regards from Big Sky!

Winter 07/08

I don't know why but I felt like updating this blog. I should have been doing all along but spring was unexpected, summer was event full, fall has been great and winter looks to be the most promising of them all. Here's the run down.

Spring - I broke my right ankle/leg (ouch)

Summer - I guided rafting trips on the Clark Fork River for Pangaea River Rafting, http://www.pangaea-expeditions.net/pangaea_privacy_policy.htm and worked for Missoula Parks and Rec in Outdoor Rec (Awesome summer)

Fall - finds me in Golden, British Columbia studying Outdoor Emergency Care (wilderness EMT) to work on ski patrol at The Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, MT. http://www.theyellowstoneclub.com/skiing/index.aspx

(The Kicking Horse River set in the Rockies of British Columbia)

The leg is healed, getting stronger and all is well. Come see me this winter!!!

(Lone Peak - Big Sky, MT)

meanwhile back at the ranch ....... (@ home in TN)

Well I have been home for over 2 months now and figure its time for a post. Just because I quit traveling doesn't mean that I have quit climbing on the contrary since I have been home I have gotten even more exposure.

It starts with "Country Christmas" at the Opryland Hotel. Every year they decorate the place and Convention Production Rigging hangs all of the Christmas lights, globes, bear, pandas ... you name it and thanks to the help of my buddies Mark McKinney and Richard Amend (owner), I got to help. These are some shots of us hanging lights in the high steel. We are currently taking all of this back and out. I can't thank Richard enough for working me on these gigs. The work has provided a much needed income on a temporary basis.

Unfortunately, you can’t work all the time so I have gotten in little rock climbing as well. These are shots from Tennessee Wall. T Wall is a trad crag in Chattanooga with tiered roof sandstone; its like sport climbing on gear.

I have also been fortunate to get on some big stuff. Since Mark and I have been working together, our work schedules are pretty much the same and we have taken advantage of that to do couple of winter ascent wall routes at Looking Glass Rock in North Carolina. Loaded with warm clothes, hot tea, a porta-ledge and ½ dozen screamers; we went to work on Rowin’s Route (A2+) with the Blonde Ambition finish (A3). Rain kept up from finishing the slab top out but we didn’t feel cheated. Carolina aid climbing grades are stiff and 2 days of rusty heads was plenty. This is a sunrise shot from the porta-ledge. (Aid climbing is when you use gear – pitons, cams, nuts, copper heads, ect.- to advance up the wall. Typically aid climbs are steeper to over hung, blank walls)

Next we roped up for the Scott Fisher Memorial (5.10, A3) put up in 1997 after the many deaths (Scott Fisher included) on Mt. Everest in 1996. Again we were kept from topping out but this time it was from melting ice which had collected on the upper slabs and rained over us for the 2 days we were on the wall. We completed 3 pitches of A2+ climbing to get just below the last bulge which protected us from the ice fall above. (Aid climbing also takes a lot of stuff and it was cold and it’s a short approach, ect….)

All of this of course has been worked in and around the holidays which was the main reason I came home. I have really enjoyed being home to reconnect with friends and spend time with my family. One of the ways the family gets together is duck hunting on my step father's farm and cabin. It has been nice to have the flexibility to spend a lot of time at the farm cabin. Time spent not only hunting but preparing, repairing and lots of eating. This is shot of the bottom and our blind. Good times.

So what’s next? Montana, the University of Montana in Missoula to be exact. I begin classes to pursue a Masters in Economics this spring. My end goal is to work in some type of sustainable development practice working to drive value in development rather than development for developments sake. My background with TVA has turned me on to the possibilities in Economic Development and I'd like to take it further. I hope to incorporate resource, environmental and ecological concerns into our ever evolving economic system … and do some backcountry skiing, climbing and mountaineering along the way.

I hope this finds everyone healthy, wealthy and wise for the New Year and I looking forward to hearing from you all.

Parting shot, duck hunting can really be tough. You must always stay alert.
(Harden Battels, nephew)

Back to the Valley and the road home...

I am playing a little catch up since I have been back home in TN now since Halloween. I have been more than a little distracted and not as motivated to update my site but there are some shots and comments that I really have to post. These are a few.

(Bouldering in Camp 4 on Backercracker)

I returned the Valley for a week of climbing with the Sloss family. Drew and Casey came back for a fall tour and we stacked it objectives. We wanted to climb some of the classic easier routes as a group of 3 and Drew and I wanted to test ourselves on some of classic moderate 5.9's and 10's.

(Casey following on Snake Dike, Half Dome)

Our overall ticklist for the week included Jam Crack, Munginella, Central Pillar of Frenzy, the Grack, the East Buttress of El Cap and a grand finale on Snake Dike, Half Dome. Strong work and good times.

(the team tops out Half Dome)









From Yosemite I headed east to reconnect with Ben and Indian Creek before heading home, see why?

(Ben getting busy on Kool Cat)

(Coin Crack)

(Rain Delay)










So much can and should be said about the events of the last 2 months and these pictures only capture a little of the good times had in great places with even better folks. All I can do for now is say that although I have returned home, the trip is not over and there is more to come.

I would like to address a few of the questions I have been asked most since returning.

q. You must have seen some wild stuff, did you ever get into any bad situations or what was the most threatening thing that happened to you?
a. No, nothing. Besides going a little postal trying to find the laundromat in Las Vegas or being overcharged for internet usage ($12) in Ontario nothing bad happen to me. The most offensive person I met was the US Customs Agent. As for natural threats, you accept that challenge when you sign up. That is just part of the deal.

q. What was the best part of your trip?
a. The people. It is really rewarding to meet and engage folks with no agenda. There are some really good, intelligent people out there and a lot can be learned. You just have to get out of traffic to meet them.

q. Would you do it again?
a. Yes, and often.

........ more to come. I didn't come home and quit climbing.

Rain in the Valley - Sun in the Desert

We are such fair weather climbers that even the hint of rain sends us running. Yeah that or the fact that Owens River Gorge is that great.

Either way a crew us headed the Owens River Gorge in Bishop, CA the other day and it was nice, real nice. You got to love the desert.

These are some shots of Owens River Gorge and the Happy Boulders of Bishop, CA.






And a parting shot on Mono Lake @ dusk. Back to the Valley.

Yosemite WALLS!!!!

Yosemite granite has to be the best climbing on the planet and the setting couldn’t be better. Yosemite is my last stop, or could be my last stop before heading home at the end of this month. Yosemite is also the place I have climbed the most and I am here for peak season. Put the two together and you have a great combination of familiar faces both rock and human. Right off the bat I hooked up with a friend of a friend that I had made along the way and we got on some of the super classic routes in the Valley. Greg and I hit the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral Rock (1 of the 50 classics), Generator Crack, Commitment and Salginela in the 1^st few days. Soon after that a former Tennessean, Ben Ricketts showed up in camp and he and I managed to keep the momentum going by getting on Serenity Crack and Sons of Yesterday. All in all it was a great 1^st run at the Valley’s classics routes.

A planned visit from another Tennessean, John Bass, got Ben and I to scheming on something big that we could all do together. It seemed that the southern contingent needed to do a wall, a first wall, and what better a target than the Nose of El Captain. The team while not experienced at Big Wall climbing was perfect for a good solid go at their 1^st wall. Ben has spent many seasons in Yosemite and is climbing hard and fast on granite. John of course is superman, capable of climbing just about anything off the couch. And then there’s me, let’s just say I was there for the hauling and the aid climbing. I have done a few solo aid routes, a grade IV and had a good solo run on Washington Column in the spring. Done, we are committed. Ben and I set out gathering food, water bottles, and waste containers in preparation.

The plan is 3 days and 2 nights plus one day fixing lines. Ben and I will climb, haul and fix lines to Sickle Ledge (5 pitches, ~400’) and rap down to meet John on Wednesday evening. All goes well except that it takes Ben and I all day instead of the 5 hours we thought it would take to fix to Sickle. Traffic killed us. The route is really crowded and it’s hot. Regardless we get the pitches in, haul “Lewis” (our 80+ pound haul bag) to Sickle, fix and rappel to the ground. After hooking up with John we set in on final preparation with a little celebration, finish packing another haul bag and head to beg for an early start.

We start the morning by running 2 bears off at our fixed lines and one by one we begin jugging the 3 fixed ropes to our high point; Ben first, then John w/ the haul bag and lastly me with a small pack retrieving ropes on the way. We arrived in time for the traffic jam that we left the afternoon before and for a sunrise that was already warming the wall up. The next 3 pitches went slow. Not the climbing but the overall moving from pitch to pitch. Sickle was also the last flat stance we would have until Dolt Tower, everything in between was hanging. The process of waiting, then climbing, fixing, lowering out the haul bag, jugging, cleaning and hauling took much longer on the 2 traversing pitches into the Stove Legs than it should have but we were improving our system as we went. Getting into and then up a pitch of the Stove Legs killed us. We had spent most of the day waiting around and on perfecting our system and had neglected to take in enough food and water. When would get a chance to move we took it and by late afternoon the heat had gotten the best of us. Then we had one last hold up before dusk. The team of 3 ahead of us decided to bail and had to rappel through my anchor. It was so uncomfortable that is was funny. There I was with my 2 haul bags (Lewis & Jamie) on a 2 bolt, 1 cam hanging anchor with 3 matching Koreans and their haul bags. Nice guys but the matching outfits and 2-way radios were a little too much.

(This Ben leading over to the Stove Legs Crack and traffic)

Now we are free to move but its getting dark and we are somewhat wasted from the day. Just three hundred feet to Dolt Tower, our bivy, well short of our intended bivy at El Cap Tower but a welcome break for hanging in our harnesses and it’s my turn to lead. I have always wanted to climb in the dark and it turns out that El Cap would be my 1^st chance. I sent the next 3 pitches of perfect crack climbing completely on aid. I may have made a free move or 2 but mostly I walked 1”, 2”, 3”, 3.5”, 4” and even 4.5” (thanks Greg) cams to top of Dolt Tower is a record 6+ hours (sarcasm). We managed to get all of us along with Lewis and Jamie (haul bags) to the ledge by 3 AM and we set into devouring cans of fruit and jugs of Gatorade. A lot folks wonder how you sleep on a wall. I too would like to know because I don’t remember any of it. I laid down (tied in of course) and pasted out only to be resurrected by the sun a few hours later.

(Bivy on Dolt Tower)

So this was our high point and the decision was made to bail. El Cap tower, 4 pitches above us hosted 2 teams we knew of and possibly a third, it wasn’t getting any cooler and we had to face the fact that we were slow. So we bailed from Dolt Tower, 11 pitches up @ ~ 1000’ of the 3000’ face. Rappelling was no small task even after we had dumped most of the water. The eight double rope rappels put us on the ground a little after 2 PM on day 2.

(John rapping with haul bag)

In hindsight, I’d do it all over again. We had a blast. Its hard work and can be uncomfortable but man what a view!

Next up:

Bouldering

Owens River Gorge

Bishop

And a visit from Drew and KcD!

Family Vacation(s) - OR Coast, Columbia River, Mt Hood, Tetons and Yellowstone

It is hard to do all the activity I have had justice in a post but I am going to try. If the title to this one confuses you, I will try to clear things up. Mom and Lee had planned to visit me in August upon my return from Canada. We planned and pulled off a whorl-wind tour of the Oregon Coast up the Columbia River and over to Mt. Hood. I say we planned it but we really just booked their flights, rented a car, packed the cooler and set off with nothing more than our intentions set and the rest we left to fate. I have to say it all worked out great and as the pictures will show, we didn’t miss much. The second of my family vacations was even more spontaneous. Seems the warm weather in TN and apparent lull in activity drove my Dad to fly out and visit The Tetons and Yellowstone with me. Again we set our intentions; book ended our dates and hit the road.

Mom, Lee and Me – Oregon:

We started out in Portland but really only spent enough time there to get supplies, which translates to food for us, and a couple of guide books from REI. From there we hit the road headed west. We started at Tillamook, OR and made our way North up the coast hitting towns, beaches and highlights along the way. Our favorite stops being Cannon Beach and Fort Clatsop. Here are the windblown travelers on a beach that Lewis and Clark had frequented years earlier.

From the mouth of the Columbia we turned east and headed up the Columbia River to Hood River, OR. In keeping with our adventurous style we didn’t hesitate to pull a u-turn and check things out along way. We also seldom passed an interesting dinner (seafood) and we were never far away from an espresso stand, whether wanted to be or not. These are the traveling Tennesseans atop Multnomah Falls. The tallest falls in Oregon and a 2 mile, 700’+ vertical gain form the parking lot. We earned our dinner that dinner day.

From Hood River we first traveled up the valley toward Mt Hood by train taking a day trip into the country and through all of the orchards. From there we returned to Hood River and made our way around a forest fire to Mt Hood via the Dalles. In one day we went from lush vegetation to high desert to alpine timber. Mt Hood Lodge, of all the times (2) that I have been to Mt. Hood I have never been treated as nicely as when I was actually staying in the Mt. Hood lodge, thanks to Mom and Lee. And I have definitely not eaten as well, although I think I do prefer sleeping in the parking lot rather than in the 1930, all wood (walls, floors, ceiling) lodge. I have to apologize to mom for correcting some of our neighbors at 3 in morning. The acoustics were a little much. This is the mother-son shot with a worthy objective in the background, Mt Jefferson. Can see all the weight she put on me in just a week.

Thank-you Mom and Lee for great visit, I don’t think anyone could have topped our efforts.

Hot weather drives local man mad – Teton and Yellowstone:

So dad and I are talking on the phone one Sunday evening and he asks what I have planned for the near future. I explained that my plans we sort of up in the air for the next 2 weeks. He suggests that I visit Yellowstone. I agree that, that would be a good destination and he says, I will come out and go with you. Monday plane tickets get purchased and by Friday I am picking him up at the airport in Idaho Falls. Hot weather and nothing to hunt is dangerous combination for my dad.

Dad and I hit the road running but not before a nice big meal and a Moose Drool or 2(man I eat good when family is around). We peeled through Jackson Hole and right on into Grand Teton National Park. I tried not to look too hard at the Tetons, since I new we wouldn’t be climbing them but wow! Let’s just say it was very reminiscent of the Canadian Rockies, definitely a must do. This is dad and I posed in front of the massive range, Grand Teton tops out a 13,777’. Yeah.

Before leaving the Tetons we stopped to take in a Moose, Bald and Golden Eagles. Dad had brought with him a spotting scope and we could have charged admission for all the views we allowed people. Dad was definitely poplar that day. We soon put the Tetons in the rear view and hit Yellowstone.

Our goal for Yellowstone was to hit the highlights, dodge the crowds and see some wildlife. Of course we could not miss Old Faithful and the trip would not have been complete without dad spotting a huge Elk and hearing him bugle. All and all we saw bear, elk, bison and mule deer. Not mention the paint pots, geysers, the canyon and Garner, MT.

Another great visit, thanks Dad.

Next posts – Idaho Whitewater on the Salmon and Yosemite Valley!!!!!

Current location – Camp 4 Yosemite Valley