Ice Climbing in Bozeman

This weekend I was able to go up to Bozeman, MT with Ed to swing really sharp metal objects at a very impermanent surface. That's also know as ice climbing. We were able to climb several one pitch routes Friday and Saturday. They were all great routes, but one in particular stands out for me. On Saturday morning we headed up from the parking lot to attempt a climb called Mummery Cooler II. The approach to the route only took about 30 minutes and when we arrived at the base, it didn't look like too hard of a climb. I guess looks can be deceiving. Ed started up the route with no problems while I belayed him. After gaining about 30 ft., he swung his ice tool and broke through a thin layer of ice which released the cold water that was flowing underneath the surface. This was not really a big deal for him because the "ice hose" was below him, thus not getting him wet. After he went up another 10 ft., this happened again. Even though, this was not going to be a problem for him, it was going to be a huge problem for me since icy cold water was running down where I was going to be climbing. Once Ed got to the top and made an anchor, he started to belay me up the climb. Almost immediately I started to get wet from the ice hose. It wasn't too bad that I was getting wet on my pants and jacket, but the real problem was my hands were getting soaked. I tried to make it through this section as quickly as possible, but I still had to stop and remove the ice screws that Ed had placed for protection. By the time I had made it past both ice hoses my hands were wooden. I was able to continue climbing up, but soon the wind started to pick up and was blowing snow around in what we call spindrift. The thing about spindrift is that it gets into every little nook and cranny in your open clothing, especially down your neck. This added to my already cold condition, as well as fogging up my glasses, making it hard to see. I tried taking the glasses off, but then the snow would just get into my eyes. By this time I was ready for the pitch to be over, but I still had a little ways to go. I swung my tools indiscriminately at the ice, trying to get them to stick without really being able to see what I was doing. Instead of being able to look at my tools and see if they were placed well, I went off of sound and feel. Ice tools have a very distinctive sound when then are placed well. After much clawing and scraping, I was finally able to make it up to Ed's anchor. This is when things started to get painful. Because my hands were freezing and had been over my head for some time, the blood had flowed out of them. After ending the pitch and being able to put my hands back down, the blood came rushing back into them. In climbers terms, this is called "screaming barfies" or "screaming meemies" because you simultaneously want to scream and throw up because it hurts so bad. Let me tell you, its probably some of the most intense pain I have ever felt. I'm not sure if it was because of the cold or the pain, but I was short of breath and shaking at the belay. Ed, who was standing next to me, chuckled a bit and let me suffer in peace because he knew exactly what I was going through. Eventually, I was able to use my hands again to rappel down. Luckily, I was able to warm up and climb the rest of the day, including doing my first ever ice lead. This goes to show that ice climbing can be quite miserable at times. However, an oft-quoted climber saying is "it doesn't have to be fun to be fun." These are all pictures of Ed. I will add some more when I get the pictures he took.