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!