In mid may Rusty Willis and myself ventured into upper Rock creek in search of an elusive icicle Mr. Stan Price told us about and I think we either didnt see it or Stan sent us youngsters out to earn our keep. We ended up seeing some great potential lines but nothing worked out and we didnt bring our skis so we limited our traveling abilities. We saw one wall in particular that looked like it would have something with the right conditions and so I decided to venture back the next day armed with Skis.
Rachel questioning my decision to continue…
Rusty was not able to make it the next day and with very little time I had to talk someone into going with me. All my usual partners were either to far away or not into a Mulkey Mission but Rachel Gaidys had never climbed with me before so she didnt know any better. lol
Rachel following up the 2nd pitch
After about an hour of skiing we came around a buttress and a very thin runnel of ice dropped from high above the wall down through a series of chimney systems. It appeared to be very thin but doable. I think when we both left the car we figured our chances of actually climbing something were very thin but turned out it was a our lucky day.
Rachel enjoying the thin top out!
This is the start of the 2nd pitch which provided some exciting rock climbing in the book fold.
Me on the 3rd pitch. It was very thin climbing that led to incredibly good alpine ice at the top.
Some good climbing puts a smile on anyones face.
One last fun chunk of ice at the end of the 4th pitch
Rachel toping out on possibly her first ascent ever !
1st pitch follows the snow gulley and across the snow ledge to the left. then follow the obvious runnels to the top.
The route was super good and provided almost 900feet of climbing. We found the potential new route to be WI4 M6 but some good ice could make this route much easier. The gear was pretty good but had some runout sections that kept me on my game. We named the route Splitsville WI4 M6
Beartooths Adventure from Aaron Mulkey on Vimeo.
