the hylilte appeal

[eric8]

can someone please explain to me why folks from Seattle frequent hylite when the cnd rockies have the same drive time?

[Dru]

soft grades

[dbb]

When the road into hyalite is easy, the climbs are very dense... there are tons of 3 and 4s within an hours walk from the lot. Plus, the drive there is arguably a lot easier: turn onto i90, cruise control, pull off in bozeman. not many elk stand in that road either

 

but I agree, nothing comes close to the rockies!

[kurthicks]

no passport required or international hassles. Partners with previous DUIs can come along.

[earthly]

the two are hard to compare to eachother as they are both great (ie a tom waits vs bob dylan), and both are destinations. hyalite is cool as it inspired Alex Lowe, and lies in a greater region that includes cooke city and beehive basin and the beartooths (where the ice monsters live), and might even be a little warmer.... the area is made for play (besides, bozeman is chock with beautiful outdoor girls). it provides the ability to click individual waterfalls into the double digits in one day, most are easy to get to. Each climb lies in a surreal landscape peppered with a huge variety of mixed, non, and kick-your-ass water ice, and dramatic views. can you say Winter Dance?

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Things are looking somewhat grim for Lillooet after christmas. I am considering maybe Hyalite or the Canadian Rockies instead. Going with my wife, and the most important thing is easy access to shortish easy climbs. Sounds like drive time is a push. In terms of user friendliness, which is better? Also, we have two options for getting/staying there, which do you recommend for each area?

 

1) Drive our Outback, stay at a motel

2) Drive our 2wd Conversion Van, sleep in van with heater.

 

We just bought the van two weeks ago and havent used it yet. No idea if a 2wd van (we will buy chains) is suitable for the hyalite or Can Rockies roads. Is the subie even suitable for that matter? I've heard some stories about the hyalite roads.

Thanks

 

Jason

[John Frieh]

If you go to Bozeman stay at the Royal 7... if you're lucky the Bozeman Police won't call you at 3 am to remove you from your room to ensure you aren't caught in the cross fire as they make a felony arrest in the room next to you.

 

No way 2wd will get you up the Hyalite road. Subaru is iffy at best... if they get any more snow you won't have the clearance to make it.

 

If you do go a come along (perhaps 2) and a tow strap are mandatory.

 

Montanaice.com has excellent updates on road/ice conditions.

 

Edited December 22, 2005 by John Frieh

[TrogdortheBurninator]

So whats the solution? Park where the road gets shitty, then hitchhike?

[John Frieh]

*If* the road stays in good shape (no new snow between now and when you go) take the sub and rent a room. If the road gets buried you can always go to some the surrounding areas listed in JoJo's book.

 

Or go to the rockies.

 

Also unless your heater cranks out the BTUs I would say get a hotel or you will never dry stuff out over night if you are climbing multiple days.

 

It was -22 last Sat night in Bozeman!

[JoshK]

Bozenman has warmed up signifantly as has everything in the entire region. On the drive home from Banff yesterday it was warm everywhere. pretty gross.

 

Hyalite canyon is really great climbing and I had a blast there however the road is definitely a struggle. You can plan on a couple of hours between going in and going out to deal with it. Honestly, with the differnece between the drives being only 2 or 3 hours I think the hyalite road struggle makes the total time about equal. The canadian rockies has an endless number of climbs in the range I think you are looking for right by the road or with a very minimal approach. The roads are taken very good care of so your van may be the cheapest way to go, but the hostels are also very nice. As John said, you are going to have a heck of a time drying out your gear without a seriously warm indoor room to spread it all out. PM me if you want since I was just up there and may be able to give a suggestion or two.

 

Either way they are both great areas with fun climbing and in a very nice setting.

 

-josh

[Bronco]

Hyalite sucks. Go to Canaedia or?

[powderhound]

Bronco,

Your veiw of Hylite sucking is in my view way off.

I am a student at MSU and have put in over 15 days there this winter. Hylite in my opinon while not having the long routes that cody does, does offer what we like to call ice cragging all high quality high concentration of all grades from WI 2 to WI7+ 5.10X routes. If you have not looked at winter dance the guide book I suggest you do and then let me know if your opinon changes.

Bryan

[Dru]

Bronco,

Hylite in my opinon while not having the long routes that cody does, does offer what we like to call ice cragging all high quality high concentration of all soft grades from WI 2 to WI7+ 5.10X routes.

Bryan

[JoshK]

Yeah, I'm not sure why you'd think Hyalite sucks. Some great climbs in there and it is a very pretty canyon. I want to get back there and hike (climb?) Hyalite Peak some winter.

[chrisr]

just the history of that canyon alone is enough of a draw for me to go there. Not to mention the hot college girls, good bars and the ability to climb multiple routes in one day. If you weren't into any of that, then... I guess it would suck.

[Bronco]

You guys are mean and suck frozen turds. I mean that in the nicest way.

 

If you come to Bozeman you will probably die a slow cold lonely death. Stay away. All the ice and college hotties belong to me.

 

I live near Bozeman and this is my sarcastic attempt to keep you dense commies away (pretty unsucessfully I see). Go to Canada and knock down all of Dru's ice.

 

I'm finding out there are a lot of other places to climb around here that aren't real well known. Pine creek is actually closer for me and I drive past Ousal falls every day on my way to work. If any of you guys are headed over here, be sure to check out www.montanaice.com there is lots of good beta thar. I was just out this am checking out a junky rambleing climb about a 25 minute hike from my back porch.

[earthly]

trogdor- the post is probably too late for your trip, but....

 

free rides (or rides for beer) can be had if you contact the local climbing shops in Bozeman the day before you'd like to go up, there's enough of a climbing community to support people who don't have vehicles, even in pairs. the shops also have books of names, numbers, etc, for stuff like that. cheers, good luck. ... and for those of you who think the wy/mt weather is too warm, you're off, they're having a banner year.

[Chad_A]

Anybody know of the conditions there? I tried registering and logging into montanaice.com, but either my browser doesn't like it, or the website has issues.

 

Any ideas out there? Might end up going next weekend.

[John Frieh]

From montanaice.com the most recent update:

 

Visited the canyon yesterday, the 29th of December, after the most recent snowfall. Rode up on a snowmachine. The snow is quite deep, especially near the bridge. The east end of the dam is drifting quite nicely.

 

No vehicles made it up to the trailhead, one truck made it to the Palisade parking lot.

 

If your idea of fun is 4 wheeling in adverse conditions then Hyalite is the equivilent of a 5.11 finger crack. Demanding, but not off the charts.

 

Be safe,

 

Contad

[powderhound]

no passport required or international hassles. Partners with previous DUIs can come along.

 

LOL......