Montana Seasonal Conditions

Hello MP!

I'm in the process of looking for new employment and found a couple decent job possibilities in the Bozeman and Missoula. The area seems really sweet, but I had some questions after reading someone's response to a similar thread.

Basically I was curious what the rock climbing time-frame is in this area... is it really going to be 9 months of only ice climbing possibilities? worse? better?

Thanks for all of your thoughts

I suppose it depends on your cold tolerance. It's sunny and dry pretty much all winter, so there's no reason not to rock climb. The remote crags can be harder to get to, and certain shady cracks are brutally cold, but that's about it.

Phillip

I moved to Missoula from Washington last summer and am loving it. If you have a job opportunity I would highly recommend it. (I have an ME degree and still looking for related work)

There is climbing literally year round. The first buttress of Kootenai is a good winter climbing spot when the sun is out. When it is snowing there are steep routes in the sick bay. There are two gyms 5 minutes from my house. (the university wall -decent roped climbing, and Freestone -great bouldering gym). . A fun crag has had some considerable development recently in Mill Creek. I have yet to get down to Lost Horse, but I hear there is great trad there. I have started to get to know the community and am looking for some ambitious climbing partners to get on long routes as it warms up and the days get longer.

In my opinion, the most attractive feature of this area is proximity to Blodgett Canyon. Some of the best long routes in MT in my narrow minded opinion

If you are a trail runner, then Missoula is THE place to be. There are 4 peaks with trailheads 5 mins from downtown with 500-2000' of elevation gain on steep and well trodden trails.

You can reasonably expect to rock climb May-October around here. Ice climbing more like Nov-March with some shoulder season on both. I've rock climbed 12 months out of the year around Bozeman, but some of those winter trips suck... you need to know where to look and be willing to drive a bit and settle for sport or bouldering sometimes.

It should be mentioned that Missoula gets very little winter sun and Bozeman gets a good amount of sun. It's also a little harder to escape summer heat in Missoula than it is in Bozeman. It gets hot as balls in blodgett in July and August.

In Bozeman right now and I rock climb year round, you just have to prepare yourself for some cold. On those days that are just too cold for rock you can get on ice. Really it comes down to how determined you are to get outside.

There's enough around, especially if you have a job. If the job is worth you moving, getting out to the west is a good start then finding what/where you're most interested in when you have time to travel around works for a lot of folks. I'm from upstate NY, and that's the advice I took when I move here, and it worked out.

Don't be fooled. It is nowhere near year round rock climbing. High temps are still below freezing and it's snowing. It rains a lot till June then it's good to October. 2012 it snowed a lot in October but that's not always the case.

Our rock season in Montana really only lasts for about a month: Sendtember. Other than that it's super hot or brutally cold and the ticks are unbearable. On top of that there are no jobs here. and our beer sucks...

Josh Kornish wrote:Our rock season in Montana really only lasts for about a month: Sendtember. Other than that it's super hot or brutally cold and the ticks are unbearable. On top of that there are no jobs here. and our beer sucks...

oh it's no secret

Ty Morrison-Heath wrote: Keeping the secret eh?