January climbing in Montana!

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything to the blog, so my appologies.  My free time the last month has been spent skiing and also taking a trip to Michigan to visit Jess' parents for Christmas. Oh, and of course, climbing in the gym.  The gym is a wonderful place to get strong for the upcoming climbing season, but no matter what, it just does not motivate me the way climbing outdoors does.  Sure, finishing off the neon green problem that you've been working for weeks gives you a sense of accomplishment, but not in the same way clipping the chains of your outdoor project does.

So when Jon Scott proposed an outdoor climbing mission to the cave today, Jess and I were all in.  It's taken a while, but I've finally reached the point of realizing that on a 50 degree day when it hasn't snowed in quite a few days, the skiing just isn't going to be good!

The crew met up at 10:00 this morning in some slightly drizzly conditions and proceeded to head out to the canyon.  Once we parked, we were were psyched to find fairly warm and dry weather.  Don't get me wrong, the warm up climbs were painfuly cold, but after that, we had a blast!  Jon and I both warmed up on Weapons and moved on to Subzero, Last Resort and Hantavirus.  Jess warmed up on It's It and gave some good burns on Subzero.  Kevin and Brad are both trying Weapons and put in some good tries on it as well.

Warming up on Weapons of Mass Destruction

It was awesome to get out and touch some real rock and makes me more motivated to continue training in the gym.  As much as I'd like to think this warm weather is going to stick around for a while, I know the colder temps (and good skiing!) are still coming, so the gym will continue to be a necessity.   Keep crankin'!