coldfear

New Coldfear site and Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 03:35:00 +0000

Come visit the new COLDFEAR and Blog!

Wyoming Kayaking from the vault !

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 00:16:00 +0000

Was going through photos and video reorganizing and came across this footage from 2009 and had to share. We had a great season which consisted of at least 3 first descents. This is just a taste of the stuff that I happen to use my GoPro on. I remember this first segment of video kayaking with Ben Stookesberry into an un-run gorge and at the end of the day Ben endured one of the coldest moments of his life as I climbed out of the gorge on a throw bag rope and was able to rope Ben and Matt Mcfadden out of the gorge right above a 50/50 death waterfall. Good Times ! Click here for that story

Wyoming Action from Aaron Mulkey on Vimeo.

Spring Reverence

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 22:30:00 +0000

Exploring unknown places has always been an absolute passion of mine. These explorations always seem to lead to at least Type II fun. If you're not familiar with this scale, let me break it down for you:

Type I fun is true fun. It's enjoyable while its happening, like good food, good sex, Class 3 rapids, drinking with the boys.

Type II fun is fun only in retrospect. It is not fun while it is happening. Usually people are cussing at me, lots of portaging with a heavy kayak, a few good rapids that don't really make it worthwhile, kayaking in a snow storm, drinking with Nathan Danforth and Nate Winning.

Type III fun is not fun at all, not even in retrospect. Typically this type of fun creates the best stories but the thought of going back makes you puke in your mouth, such as running mandatory class 5 drops that you only ran because you had to. Tom Sunderland, Randy Binder and I dragged kayaks through the snow for 10 hours over 6 miles one day and we never took one stroke. Oh yeah, and don't forget to bring your tears. This is a typical "Mulkey Mission."

10 miles of unknown into a 1000ft gorge with no way out;

major snow storm with freezing temps; and

putting in on a tributary creek with hopes that other creek (2 miles downstream) will add enough water to make the creek worthwhile.

Mix these ingredients together and you have the perfect recipe for Type III fun, a.k.a. "Mulkey Mission."

Looking up into the walled in canyon, we were all a little apprehensive.

I remember my Mom asking, "If your friends all jumped off the bridge, would you?"

This mission sorta started off that way. It was snowing and pretty damn cold and I don't think any of us were really psyched to immerse ourselves in these conditions for a day of exploratory kayaking. Nobody wanted to be the wise voice in the group, so we all just put our heads down and shouldered our kayaks to the river.

Surprisingly, the water level wasn't too bad, albeit low, it was doable for an exploratory mission. We had very few portages for several miles and the creek just kept going at a decent pace. Once we entered this canyon, we were completely committed to making it out. The rapids were mostly pool and drop class 3 and 4 up to this point, so I don't have many pics.

We eventually reached this waterfall. From the lip, it was a twister of sorts into a pool that we really couldn't see all of. It looked like it went into a wall, but it looked 50/50. There was no way to set safety and with all of us feeling pretty damn cold, a possible swim could be disastrous. The funny part is, all of us wanted to run it since the portage was gonna suck. All it would have taken was for one of us to say, "Screw it... I'm given'er." and the entire group would have gone. With the temps and no safety, bailing was probably the smartest decision of the day, but also the only decision we would all regret later.

Basically, after the waterfall, the rest of the creek was class 2 and we were out of the canyon kicking ourselves because we had just walked possibly the best drop on the creek. Part of our reason for walking was that we were unsure how much more serious whitewater we had downstream. Little did we know, that was the end of it all.

We packed up the car and headed back to Ten Sleep for some much needed warmth, food and celebratory drinking.

Here is Tom Sunderland showing the lady bartenders how kayakers party.

The crew. From the left, Tom Sunderland, Aaron Mulkey, Tyson Bednarz, Matt McFadden, Randy Binder, and D-nuts a.k.a. Nathan Danforth.

All in all, it was a great trip. I will soon return to that creek when it has more water and warmer temps. It's one of the most amazing canyons I have ever been through and there is only one way to see it.. in a kayak.

Spring Reverance from Aaron Mulkey on Vimeo.

Deep Water Dry Tooling

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 04:07:00 +0000

Spent a little over a week at Lake Powell and had a great time climbing and gettin the tools wet!

Bucket List

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 03:00:00 +0000

Just a couple pics from a recent recon flight

Shell and Ten Sleep Creeks

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:44:00 +0000

Its that time of year, I begin my treks across the big horn basin to visit the wealth of whitewater in Big Horn Mountains. This time we were joined by some paddlers on the other side of the mountain Eric Seymour, Brenden Cronin, Chris Johnson and John Whiedie. These guys along with the usual suspect Tom Sunderland and we were missing Randy and Nathan because they got their man cards revoked.

Shell Falls will have to wait to be run by a different human being

Levels were on the way down as cooler weather was sweeping across the state so we were able to grab Shell Creek at about 600cfs (7inches on bridge gauge) and Ten Sleep over two feet.

This is such a great road side rapid that perhaps someone will fire up someday but the last 25 footer is gonna be the crux. 25 feet into a pile of rocks that looked to have been placed in the falls during road construction.

The Fine Dining establishment of the Ten Sleep Saloon. If your going through Ten Sleep its a must stop for a bite to eat or a drink.

Kayak trash has arrived in Ten Sleep Wyoming!

Chris Johnson gettin his game on in the entrance rapid to the first gorge of Shell Creek

Eric Seymour tickin off one of the unrun rapids in the LTP section of Shell Creek.

Shell canyon is a pretty rad place

After some rest and prayers for Ten Sleep to lower its water level we heading back up the mountain to check levels. Ten Sleep dropped a little bit but not much. This 300+ft per mile run is unlike any other run I have heard of or paddled. The gauge was a little over two feet and it was sorta like navigating a mine field, one wrong stroke and things are gonna blow up.

Aaron Mulkey looking for the next eddy to catch a breath.

Eric Seymour wondering where the OFF switch is.

As Eric pulled into an eddy we were both trying to catch our breath and he looked at me and said
"This is really fun but on the edge of disaster"
Here is Eric Gopro footage-

Thanks to John Whiedie for Ten Sleep photos!

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:42:00 +0000

The Coldfear Photo Contest is in effect and the voting can begin....

Please go to the Coldfear.com Facebook page and vote on your favorite photos by hitting the LIKE button. Make sure you Like the Coldfear.com Facebook page first!

The below photos are just a sample of the 40 visually stunning images you will see. Share the page with your friends and family.

Huge thanks to the companies that supported and donated swag for the contest winners. Grivel, Rab, Sterling Rope and Cilogear. Check out links to these great companies on the right side of the blog.

Snapshots Of Norway Ice Climbing

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:21:00 +0000

Here are few shots from the Rab Norway Shoot. I climbed a couple of the local routes and our new line we did which you can read about here. Thanks a bunch to Ben Winston for the shots!

There is also a video Ben made that you can view here

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The Dutch Rudder

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Sun, 06 May 2012 23:48:00 +0000

The Dutch Rudder was a First Ascent from last year that was one of my favorites. I had been climbing in the Schoolhouse drainage a month prior with Kevin Craig trying to get to the base of this monster and we were turned around by avy conditions just a few 100 yards short of the first pitch. We ended up climbing Dunces Corner which was in "SPICY" conditions.

Aaron Mulkey On Dunces Corner Photo:Kevin Craig

I had spotted the drip the week prior while hunting for some high hanging fruit in the valley and couldnt stop thinking about it. After Kevin and I were shut down I waited about two weeks for the warmer temperatures to settle conditions and melt snow.

The elusive "last climb before the war" was trying to come in

Tanner Callender coming up the first pitch of Dutch Rudder Tanner and I returned to find great conditions and the ice was surprisingly good despite the way it looked.

Mulkey gettin in the business with "The Dutch Rudder" Photo by:Tanner Callender

The climbing was engaging and fun. The gear wasnt the best but careful balance and stemming provided some amazingly good climbing. I would highly recommend this route.

Tanner and I psyched on the First Ascent of the "The Dutch Rudder" and another great day in the South Fork valley.

COLDFEAR Photo Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:47:00 +0000

I am excited to announce the first Coldfear Photo Contest which will be held on the Coldfear.com Facebook page found here - COLDFEAR.COM FACEBOOK PAGE.
1. One photo entry per person.
2. Must a be a winter climbing/life shot, Ice, alpine, rock, hiking, camping etc.
3. Send your photo with caption to aaron@coldfear.com by May 14, 2012.
4. All photos will be put on the Coldfear.com Facebook page on May18th.
5. The photo with the most likes wins the contest.
6. Top 5 photos will win swag. First place winner gets first choice then second etc.
7. The contest will end June 4th and the winners will be announced soon after.
8. Photo entries will not be used for anything other than the contest.

Prizes gathered so far include:
Rab- Men's Boreas Pull on or the Women's Aurora Pull on- Both of these pieces won the Backpacker Editors Choice Award. $80 value
Cilogear- 20L NWD $150 value
Grivel- 5 pack Plume Draw $150 value
Sterling Rope- $50 Gift certificate

More great prizes to be announced but these are some of the big ones!

I look forward to all the entries and please share this contest with friends and Facebook.

Rab- Norway Ice climbing video

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:54:00 +0000

A quick video from the Norway trip from Ben Winston!

Tapout - First Ascent

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:56:00 +0000

Still trying to catch up from last seasons festivities and also maintain this seasons. Tapout was a First Ascent I did last year thanks to Alli Rainey and Kevin Wilkinson who spotted the magnificent pillar in a new area they were developing for Rock Climbing. I quickly packed the car and tempted Tanner Callender to come join me with promises of an FA. We found the pillar and it was very impressive but was not connected at the top and had a huge window in the middle. I contemplated for over an hour sizing it up and depending on what side you looked at it from it looked good or it looked bad. The weather for the next week looked nice and cold so we opted to come back next weekend to claim our prize.

Aaron Mulkey Marching up Tapout

Mulkey testing the pillar for sound and vibration.

I climbed up the pillar a ways to see how it felt and it made a horrible drum sound with every swing.

Tanner and I returned to the area with Chris Guyer and our Photog Tyson Bednarz. The pillar had grown tremendously and the connection point was super good now. Below are a bunch of photos taken of the route! You can also see this climb featured in The Regualtors Video Episode 5

The pillar Tapout was great, not hard but incredibly gorgeous!

Tanner Callender coming to top

Kevin Wilkinson working on his projects. This area was named the Octagon for it shape and serious nature of climbing. One of the cooler places I have ever climbed.

This cave is in the climbing area and is pretty damn cool. You had to crawl into this room and then it opened up into a massive room and went awhile back before you had to crawl again.

Someone discovered this cave a long time ago and celebrated well ! This can was before my time im sure of that. I havent seen a pull top like this ever. ha

After claiming Tapout we rushed over to one of the other climbs in the area up Ten Sleep Canyon and it began to nuke snow on us but the climbing was great and we had a nice full day.

These are to ride right ?

Thanks to Tyson Bednarz and Tanner Callender for the photos.

One of my favorite days of climbing last year!

Box Elder Fools Day

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 04:03:00 +0000

After the Deer Creek mission we decided our second day of paddling and April Fools day would be well spent on Box Elder. Box Elder is another Casper favorite with a nice 50 foot hike to the put in and a 800ft elevation gain hike out that really sucks. Anyway here are a few shots from the run!

Wyoming Creeks Kick Off Early

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:35:00 +0000

Chris Johnson checkin for blue sky in the "Vortex"

Hiking to the put in seems to becoming a normal pre requisite on my trips. I think Gary Edgeworth said it best "When Mulkey calls dont pick up the phone" See Video HERE. Well I would like to think my percentage of successful trips far outweighs the bad ones and even the bad ones provide such great stories that perhaps they are worth the pain and suffering.

Warm temps spread throughout the state of Wyoming and the ice began to melt at alarming rates so it was time to start checking the water gauges of Wyoming to see what creeks would be first to start kickin. The Laramie range around Casper, Wy is usually first to begin its melt, given its relatively low elevation snow pack. I had been in the area a week prior and noticed the creeks were beginning to rise but the gauges were not correlating very well to what I was seeing in the river bed so this was a bit concerning. So a week later warm temps were still holding and my thoughts were the flows had to be starting to rise with the days temps. Rallying kayakers early season always seems to be easy, like starved bears out of hibernation searching for a meal they gather with only a hope. Lucky for us this time we scored and we were handsomely rewarded with good flows and the third descent of the entire run of Deer Creek. You can see the story on the second descent HERE

Let the hike begin....

Kayaking in Wyoming !

Nathan Danforth psyched to make it through one of first big drops. Its drops like this that keep me coming back to Deer Creek. Its one of the very few runs around that can be run with zero portages. On my first trip through the canyon Ben Stookesberry ran the waterfall but with the right flows it will go again. We were able to do the 8 mile run with just one portage (the waterfall).

Part of the crew talking about how much they like hiking with there kayaks

The Waterfall- At high flows the waterfall fills in more so its not all dumping into a corner.

The one and only portage around the waterfall isnt too bad.

Randy Binder gettin off the couch finally for this run and enjoying every minute other then the hike

Chris boofs to wall. I dont believe this one has a name yet but it is indeed memorable

The large rock marks the entrance to the "Vortex"

Aaron Mulkey about to get his turn in the "Vortex"

Nate Winning charging the the 'Vortex"

Tom sunderland gettin ready for a beat down in the "Vortex" Love this pic with the elevation drop in the background.

Mulkey in one of the many drops in Deer Creek

Mulkey in the the midst of the run. Deer Creek has very little flat water and is for the most part non stop action.

Nate got the Booty beer for the day but the guy absolutely crushed the run. Lucky for us the last big hole of the day only chose him. Nate was paddling incredibly well this trip and I believe he said it was one of the best runs of his life.

The whole crew psyched after a great run in last days of March creek boating!
from the left- Tom Sunderland, Chris Johnson, Randy Binder, Nathan Danforth, Nate Winning, Aaron Mulkey

The next day we paddled Box Elder and I will have pics up soon....

HOME SICK CLIMBER ON BIVY NEEDS TO JUST TOUGH IT THE FUCK OUT

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 22:46:00 +0000

HOMESICK CLIMBER ON OPEN BIVY NEEDS TO JUST TOUGH IT THE FUCK OUT
Source:COLDFEAR.COM News

CODY, WY—Considering that everyone else that Aaron Mulkey is climbing with is having a great time and are not freaking out about run-out pitches, being cold, an open bivy, spooning or missing their girlfriends and wives, 27 year old Tanner Callender needs to just man up and tough it the fuck out because this homesick bullshit is getting ridiculous, sources reported Saturday.

The man, who clearly just excused himself from the next pitch to call his girlfriend for the third goddamn time, had seriously better get his shit together ASAP or else all his moping around is going to ruin everyone else's climb. Sources confirmed Callender will see his girlfriend again in less than 15 hours, so he needs to stop acting like a little bitch and relax, for Christ's sake.

"It doesn't seem like Tanner is having as much fun as the rest of us," said fellow climber Doug Shepherd, rightly sensing that it's high time for Callender to sack up and get with the fucking program already. “I don't understand. We let him take one of the best pitches, but all he did was complain about his boots not being adjusted right and that he didn’t have the right tools for the pitch. He was being a real bitch the whole time."

"Isn't he excited that we're going to put up this badass first ascent and summit later? It's an R-rated route!" he continued, while a forlorn Callender behaved as if his girlfriend lived in Romania, as opposed to 2 goddamn hours away.

Though all he's being asked to do is spend a day having a blast with 3 of his closest friends, Callender chose to sit outside of the snow cave during a pre-pitch brew like a little pansy, claiming his allergies were acting up when, in reality, his puffed-up eyes and runny nose were a direct result of 30 minutes of sobbing at the bottom of the previous pitch.

Callender, who by all accounts needs to just deal with it and grow the fuck up, pronto, has but one obligation the whole day—the mindblowingly simple task of climbing—after which he will wake up, it will be morning, and his girlfriend will come pick him up at the trailhead and take him to Pilates or some other bullshit.

Reports confirm that Joel Anderson, age 30, and Stephen Berwanger, age 36, aren't homesick little pussies and are totally game to try to climb all night. "Tanner told me he had a stomach ache and that's why he didn't eat at the last pitch," said Joel Anderson, neglecting to call Callender out on his bullshit and tell him to just nut up and eat his fucking Cliff Bar. "I hope he feels better in the morning, because I heard Stephen is gonna brew coffee and make some oatmeal!"

"It's weird, he had the same problem during our last climb," Shepherd said of the little girl.

According to sources, the irony here is that Callender spends lots of time away from his girlfriend every single day when he goes to work, so he ought to be used to it. In fact, reports indicate his girlfriend would probably agree that their relationship ought to take a step back, he should stop letting his irrational fears spiral out of control for a minute, and quickly reach down to double-check that he still has a set.

"I know this can be a tough age for some men to go out on big alpine adventures with their friends and sleep out in the cold," Shepherd’s wife, Alison, said. "But I do think it's important that men venture outside their comfort zones and see for themselves that it's okay to spend the night away from home sometimes."

"I will say, though, that I hope he stops coming to talk to me every time before the men leave for the climb and just goes outside with the others to pack the car," she continued. "I'm not his fucking mom."

As of 9 p.m., Callender is still making a big deal out of nothing. He's totally fine, and if he complains about it being cold and dark one more time, I'm going hit TheSpot device to have his girlfriend come pick his ass up. Instead of manning up for just one night, he's going to regret it for the rest of his goddamn life.

And there he fucking goes again.

Big New Route In Norway

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 01:34:00 +0000

Here is a quick link to the stories and photos and I will get much more up in the following week.

Climbing Magazine

Rock and Ice Magazine

Quick Norway Update!

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:54:00 +0000

We have been in Norway for over a week and things just keeping getting better. Here is just a quick teaser of our travels so far. enjoy !

Icepalooza Part 2 !

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:07:00 +0000

Long Neck Bottle

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:37:00 +0000

For me Long Neck Bottle has been that trophy Elk, Deer or Girlfriend people pursue their entire life. Every day I visit the valley I am always looking through the window to see if its in or even if it has ice on it. If it has ice on it then I watch it through the season religiously praying it will touch down so I can get my turn. "The Legend" Stan Price did the first ascent back in 1998 and it has taken many years of patience for it to receive its second ascent. The condition of the climb was much different when Stan did the FA. It touched down about the size of a Bottle and I would imagine he put strippers to shame as he shimmied his body up the pole of ice. It was probably one of North Americas boldest leads in its time and even to date would be amazing. Lucky for me I found it in much better conditions. It touched down in three spots all of which were small and questionable but much better then Stans Bottle Neck feature. I remembered Stan placed a pin behind the curtain to protect a possible fall if the entire ice decided to detach but unfortunately for me I was height challenged to reach the pin. If it was like any of Stans other pins I found It would have been a mental piece of protection anyway. Kevin Craig and myself had to earn the ascent along with Daniel Burson and Tanner Callender who were climbing another route high in the drainage, we dealt with non frozen waterfalls at the base of the triptych drainage making the day even that more challenging.

Tanner trying to stay dry

Mulkey working through the first pitch of triptych unfrozen

It takes years of experience to climb kitty litter. I gave this a KL (kitty litter) 5 grade

More waterfall climbing. Some people may say it was too warm to climb.....

Right triptych pillar gains you access to the goods above.

One of the great things about this route is you really have to earn it just to stand at the base of the climb.

Daniel Burson climbing a variation of Wyoming Rodeo (left triptych pillar)

Finally at the base Kevin and I were psyched. A long awaited trophy stood in front of us and all we had to do was make it happen.

Mulkey enjoying the first pitch

Mulkey testing the architecture

Once I got on this thing it was sorta go time and no messing around since there was no reason to put gear in for the first 50 feet or so.

Good times

Finally able to relax and enjoy it !

Thanks a bunch to Kevin Craig for giving me the energy and belay.

Meanwhile Daniel and Tanner were getting after it on the upper Triptych pillar.

This is what I like to call " The Trophy Room"
far left is a unamed WI4 line then you can barely see " The Gambler WI6" and then "long neck bottle" and the upper pitch of Triptych pillars. This room hosts two of the hardest pure ice lines in the valley.

Simply a great day for all of us. We were all psyched on each others focuses for the day and cheering each other on as we took on our missions. We could have given up early in the day when we felt like we were trying to swim up stream but we all stayed in good spirits and enjoyed every minute. It was a day to remember and we all took home trophies as a team!

Wyoming Icepalooza

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:08:00 +0000

Here is the next episode of the Regulators. Incredibly excited to finally share this trip with everyone!

Women of the South Fork

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:04:00 +0000

Living in Cody can be tough finding partners and its a rare occasion when the only partners you can find to climb with are all women. Last year the only the people gettin after in the valley a couple of weekends were a group of badass women and I was just lucky enough I was allowed to tag along with Echo Oak, Hilary Eisen, Kelly Dedel and Rebecca Cedel.

Here are some pics of the the ladies taking care of business!

Keeping The Momentum

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:50:00 +0000

Doug and I were on a roll of First Ascents and we couldn't believe the successes we were having. Weather and timing were all aligning for us simultaneously. When your on heater there is only one thing to do and that is to ride it out until you loose.

Doug Shepherd and I decided to head into the Giants Belly in the Beartooths for some new lines of interest. This is also the home wall for the the well known Ice Dragons which is a early season classic. Since we knew the hike in was epic we decided to make the best of our time and stay a night out to capture two days of climbing. The line on the left we named Ice fairies which is a 3 pitch WI5 line and the line on the left we climbed 4 pitches of until the ice ran out and someone turned on the snow.

Doug Heading up to the base of Ice Fairies

Gettin busy on the first pitch

Aaron Mulkey taking on the thriller pillar on the 2 second pitch.

a>Doug following the second pitch of great ice

One climb down and a cold nights bivy to come

Day two brought on incredibly good mixed climbing in the heart of the giants belly. This was a great pitch!

Doug coming up the 2nd pitch

Doug getting it on for another great pitch of climbing

Not sure what Dougs plan of attack was on this super overhanging block pith but he got it her dun and it was yet another great pitch of climbing.

Doug and I were a bit disappointed that we didnt finish the second route but the climbing was so great we felt we had been rewarded handsomely and the streak had to end at some point. A long hike out as the snow decided to explode from the sky we were glad we were on our way out and smiling ear to ear.

Here is a video of the climbs

Desperate For Loving

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:24:00 +0000

Well im still keeping the couch warm these days but some of the Wolf Pack came to town to make some kills and I was able to get out and shoot some photos of the action. Desperate for Loving is the name of the climb so dont worry if you thought this TR was about my love life you are mistaken. My life is more like Desperate To Climb these days but my day is coming soon and the training is keeping me focused. I will have some more big post coming soon but wanted to keep the posts coming.

Kelly Dedel and Stephen Berwanger heading into one of the closes approaches in the valley "Desperate For Loving"

A gorgeous day in the valley!

Desperate For Loving is a great route that always seems to take on its leaders with a great mental challenge. Its a bit mixed with some great movement all the way up. I highly recommend this route if your in town and its in.

Stringer and Slow Turning hiding out in the morning shade

Stephen Berwanger "Stevo" Heading up the first pitch

Stevo glad to be out of the cave... I think ha

The Route

Stevo glad to be back in the South Fork no doubt

Stevo playing hookey in the CAVE

Kelly enjoying the second pitch. I love this picture of the desert like landscape climbing

My lovely and talented lady Kelly Dedel picking her way up her first real route. For only climbing about 10 pitches of ice ever she did an incredible job.

Those Greenies just cant get enough of Wyoming ICE!

The Regulators Episode 6 - Spindrift Disposition

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 22:08:00 +0000

Keeping the Regulators season going !

Early Season Ice Hunt

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Mulkey) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:41:00 +0000

Im continuing to catch up from last years TR's and there are some great ones to come but here is a short and sweet one.

As soon as the first snow hits the hills every ice climber in the Rocky Mountains begins to hunger for the first taste of ice. We head into our secret shaded chimneys and elusive north faces with only one thought on our mind. Eventually after hiking or driving numerous miles we all get that day to sink our tools for the first time in the season. This time Kevin and Stevo made their trip to Cody to join Kelly and I on a hike in to my secret spot in the hills that provides ice from October to July!

Hiking into Skirmish and Coldwar you will be rewarded with climbing ice before anyone else and some incredible views.

Kevin Craig psyched to throw tools for the first time in the epic season to come.

Napping and climbing ice all in the same day...gotta love climbing in the valley.

Ice climbing in October at its best and a Mulkey hike pays off for the crew. Skirmish on the right and Cold War on the left

Stephen Berwanger (stevo) always smiling when on ice !

Kevin Craig feeling solid after a few months off the ice

Kelly enjoying her first time ice climbing after I gave her a very intense 1 minute lesson ha !

Kelly taking in her last glimpse of her first ice climbing adventure.

Kevin Craig enjoying the views of the valley after some early ice season climbing. This view is why climbing here is like no other place.

Incredible sunset on the way out to cap off a great day of climbing with good friends

Watch the video below about the trip.