PHOTO BY PETE BANNING


point, and then shoveled the rest into duffels for sleds. The park is notoriously rigid with their policies and despite the absence of snow, 8 miles of dirt road remain gated to the public. We dragged our sleds alongside fresh park service tire tracks and our ears rang from the steady, deafening grind of colorful plastic being slowly chewed away by the more dirt than snow-covered road. Irony exists in the way that we took the trip so seriously, over-did the prep and packing due to our dogmatic view and lack of experience, yet, grossly over-estimated our abili- ties to cope with the cold, hard conditions of this near- arctic environment. I recall hearing tales of how climbing Katahdin can be a colder experience than Alaska; I also recall tales of Alaska being so cold that the ice was too dense to place screws. Absurd, I thought and questioned this wisdom, 'surely, I could place screws in such condi- tions.' These tales crossed our paths to teach a cold lesson that remains indelible and always leaves me appreciating the relatively mild winter conditions enjoyed here in the Rocky Mountains.


Finally engaged in climbing: battling over iron-hard, low- 18 climber MAGAZINEism |


angle ice that ran on pitch after pitch, stretching to the skyline overhead, obviously a long way to go at our given pace, making slow time, not confident enough to discard the rope and solo over this easy ground, also not able to adequately protect nor able to establish solid belays, as our meager selection of antique ice screws failed one by one. The “good” screws, our two Lowe Rats (the archaic ratch- eting ice screw), were supposed to be the secret weapon – their beefy body and robust diameter meant to inspire confidence and a sense of security. Their dull, shallow- angle teeth however, refused to bite and no matter how hard I tried, there was simply no way to turn them into the bullet-proof ice. Unlike the precision-crafted, turbo-charged screws of today, the Rats required a little more effort to place, but with their ratcheting hanger, once started, were arguably the most efficient of their time. Typically, all that was required to initiate was a few half-twists. In tougher conditions, starter holes made with picks would break sur- face tension and reveal a tender underbelly, where the ice was slightly warmer and more forgiving – allowing the Rat to sink its teeth and begin tunneling into the ice, but not


SEPTEMBER OCTOBER 2011 |


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