Becoming a Mountain Man

Last winter, I read a quote listing three requirements to become a Mountain Man. First, you have to kill a bear. Secondly, you have to love a native woman. And thirdly, you have to pee in the Yukon River. Now for as long as I can remember I have always wanted to be a Mountain Man. As a child the idea of wondering the hills with a Hawkin rifle, leggins and a fur hat captivated my imagination. I felt I would truely be wild and free, answering to no one. Unfortunately, I grew up and turned into an adult. I also bought into the fascade of the American Dream, a mortgage, car payments, credit card debt, big screen tv and all the other bullshit that our sociaty tells us is part of our dream.
Last summer I was trying to find that particular quote. To no avail I could not find it, but it got me thinking how I accomplished all three.
 First of all, I killed a Pope & Young record sized black bear using a self bow, which is a stick bow my friend Brad carved out of an Osage Orange tree branch, and wooden arrows.Secondly, I am married to the most beautiful woman I have ever set eyes on, and she just happens to be Northern Cheyenne. Her Great, Great grandfather was Chief Dull Knife also known as Morning Star.
Thirdly, I pissed in the Yukon River. Sorry to say I didn't reach number three with quite the same pinach! I was in Whitehorse, the biggest town in the Yukon, with Stan, Daniel and Peter, on our way to climb Mt. Logan. On the long drive from Montana, I was telling them about the three requirements and at that moment we were in the middle of town gasing up Stan's Toyota. I look across the busy street and there flows the mighty Yukon River. Daniel notices me looking and says, "Here is your chance." Without a second thought I sprint across the busy street, and I turn to see Peter close on my heels, with a huge grin, and his camera. I find a spot on the bank in the bushes, drop trow and piss in the river. Peter follows suit and we laugh like little school kids.

When I returned from Canada, I reflected on where I am at in my life, and I also thought a lot about those three crazy requirements. I have come to realize I don't hunt anymore because I honestly don't like killing animals. Secondly, I love my wife because of the amazing person she is and not because of her lineage.  Lastly, anybody could piss in the Yukon if it were right in front of them. However, I am a Mountain Man not because of or inspite of those three requirements, but because of what is in my heart. Only differences are that I roam the mountains with ice tools instead of a Hawkin rifle, and I wear gortex and a helmet rather than buckskins and a coonskin cap. But it would be a lie if I didn't say I have thought of attaching a coon tail to the back of my helmet.

Logan 2011

Just a quick trip report, in June Daniel, Stan, Peter and I made the 38 hour drive north to the Yukon. Our goal was to climb Mt. Logan, Canada's highest point and the second highest in North America. We failed, here are some photos.

 Sorting gear at Kluane Lake

 Approaching our route

 Peter on the start

 Stan and Peter

 Bivy #4

 This was day one, waiting for the temps to drop

 Little mixed fun!

 Stan feeling tired

 The crux

 More mixed goodness

 The summit behind Stan

 Near the top of our ridge

 Our ridge started bottom left and climbed up right to the very obvious sun shade line upper right of photo. see bottom photo for rest of route. Our high point was the top of the wide snow ridge (HubSew Ridge) which we then descended and traversed around to HubSew peak and came down the south west face of HubSew. The ridge that we climbed gained 4,500 ft. and was unclimbed, our descent down the HubSew ridge and face was also a first and we believe that it may offer a better option than the very long East Ridge. The point of climbing a mountain is to stand on top and in that we failed, but what a great climb with great friends!

Just a quick trip report, in June Daniel, Stan, Peter and I made the 38 hour drive north to the Yukon. Our goal was to climb Mt. Logan, Canada's highest point and the second highest in North America. We failed, here are some photos.

Cali-Cham, Wow

   On May 1st, Tanner Callender, Chris Guyer, Stan Price, Peter Ramos and I did a linkup of California Ice with a ski descent of Chamonix Coulior. We skinned and climbed (up to WI4+) for over 4,000 ft. to the East Rosebud Plateau, which we then traversed over to the top of the coulior. Our reward was an amazing 4,000 ft. ski descent back to the trail. What a day!

Winter Climbing

“If you can climb in the Beartooths, in winter, you can climb anywhere in the world.” Those words have been spoken by more than one world class climber. So, what is so special about those mountains? First they are big, not exceptionally tall with the highest peak at 12,800, but very vast. The glacier moraines at times will make you question your sanity for being there. You also are practically guaranteed not to see a single sole, and the feeling of true wilderness is amazing. Many of the routes end on plateaus, which seem to go on forever, and in a storm will certainly test your route finding skills. Now let me clarify what constitutes a winter climb in the Beartooths. The most obvious would be that it has to fall in the calendar winter, December 20 to March 20. Ski approach is a must also, if you aren’t torturing your body with mountaineering skis and mountain boots you’re not doing it right. A bivy is also a must unless you are doing an endurance climb such as Alex Lowe climbing and skiing Granite peak in a seventeen hour car to car push. The climbs generally will be on snowy granite of very questionable quality with the chance of finding sustained good ice very small. These routes demand the technical ability of a mixed climber, the head of an aid climber, the snow sense of a backcountry skier, the endurance of a marathoner, and most importantly the willingness to suffer and fail most of the time.


The failing part is something I have had much experience with, such as my many attempts to climb the Bear’s Tooth before finally finding success last year. Now, I have a new objective, the Silver Pillar. Chris Guyer and I attempted it recently, and were shut down by bad snow conditions. We opted instead to do some climbing on a smaller buttress in the West Fork area. The climbing was very challenging and extremely enjoyable with good rock, by Beartooth standards, in a spectacular area. Maybe I shouldn’t call these trips failures because while we didn’t get to our main objective the knowledge we gain from every attempt is priceless. And that also brings me to my last requirement for a climb, if you are successful on your first attempt, it was too easy!

Bent Shaft

Some photos of the first ascent of The Bent Shaft. Use the mixed start to Airborne Ranger (M8) climb high into the upper crack and place a #1 cam, then come down to a chossy ledge and traverse right untill you can snag the curtain. Then commit to the free hanging ice and climb steep ice to the top. And Your Done!