It got cold in Bozeman.

The temps haven’t risen above 3 degrees F since Wednesday of last week, and they haven’t reached positive digits since Friday. The high on Tuesday was 5 degrees below 0 F.

There are benefits to the recent cold snap – most notably, any ice routes that were still holding out should be fully frozen by now – but it sure is hard to really enjoy being out there when it’s impossible to ignore the cold. Ideally, the weather will be something like water in a fishbowl: it allows me to do what I’m here to do, but it’s not something I have to think about. Warmer temps appear to be on the way, and it should be in the twenties and sunny for this weekend’s ice festival. Until then, I’ll just suffer through frigid belays or, worse, warm time indoors.

Rubber ducky, you're the one…

I will say that life in the cold climate requires all sorts of adaptations that I had never considered. People love to rip on the hot, sticky summers in the South, and they often validate the criticism with the popular truism: “You can always put on more clothes [Read More]