Photos by polarwid

Cool movement on a cool problem with the cool temperatures at Boat Rock in Atlanta in the winter. Mike cruising up Firewoman on one of the smaller boulders in the area. Did I mention how cool it was?

A nice shot of Mike on the picturesque Friction Slab warm-up problem near the Beam Me Up section of Boat Rock.

Boat Rock in the winter...no bugs, awesome friction, and great views of the lake unobstructed by the trees and vines...pretty close to perfect!

This is the classic overhung, flaring, cheese-grater crack that is the namesake for this section of boulders at Boat Rock near Atlanta. It has repeled many V-Hard boulderers that just don't know how to jam, a critical skill on this problem!

This is the Paint Can Boulder at Boat Rock, Georgia...

John Maldonado onsights the Tourist Route during a visit to Boat Rock. Classic granite friction slabs abound in this urban bouldering paradise...

John Maldonado balances his way up this Boat Rock slab classic. Winter temps and late evening sun made for a great session.

Caught this shot of Kindergarden Rock and Keyhole Rock while showing my family the overly touristy Balanced Rock and Steamboat Rock on a "climbless" vacation to Colorado...at least the moon was full!

This is a shot of the Lower Diamond from the road. If you look closely, you can see a couple of climbers at the base of Toto (5.7), the central crack system on the face. There is also a difficult to see blue speck that is the lead climber about 75 feet up the route. The white rock (not snow), is from a recent rockfall (last ten years) from the ridge behind the Diamond.

HEY JODY! Finally took a shot like yours!!! One of my last nights in the beautiful Eagle River Valley before I moved to Georgia, I hiked the Crow Creek Trail. I was almost finished (two miles from the end of a 28 mile hike) when I realized that it was the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. This was taken at about 2:00AM. Yes, two in the morning, looking west down the Eagle River Valley from a beaver pond near the base of Eagle Peak. I am going to miss these awesome sights that I grew so used to!

This is John Borland (coldclimb) on a fun little 5.10 face we top-roped during the Alaska RC.com gathering. It was good to finally climb with another member besides Micah. Thanks for hauling me up there and catching me John...

This is a shot of the Monolith in Hatcher Pass from the end of the road up Archangel Valley. A quick walk up the road past the gate brings you to the base of the easiest accessed crag in the Pass. The white dot is a climber on Center Slab Left (5.9).

This is a view of the sharp summit of O'Malley Peak from Anchorage. There are some great alpine routes on this peak, and the winter mountaineering is great, only 5 miles from the city.

This is Flat Top. Ascended by tourists and Alaskans by a 1.5 mile trail, the views from the top are almost worth the crowds. The winter mountaineering on the couloirs is great practice for the bigger stuff, but the avy danger is usually very high.

The West Face of Eagle Peak rises over 6,000 feet straight up from the banks of Eagle River. A couple of partial lines on the face have been climbed from the sides, but the direct face still awaits a first ascent. The snow flutings, cornices and avy danger keep most winter mountaineers of of the face, and the chossy rock underneath is unclimbable when the snow melts. This picture was taken from the Eagle River Nature Center on May 21st.

This is the West Face of Pioneer Peak from the junction of the Parks and Glenn Highways. This peak dominates the view from just about anywhere in the Palmer/Wasilla area. There are some nice Alpine routes on the North and West Faces, but you must be willing to wait for the inevitable avalanches to run their course before attempting them!

This is a distant view of the always stormy Cathedral Spires and the Triple Peaks area. Situated at a low spot in the Alaska Range, the clash of warm, moist air from the south and cold, dry air from the north produces months where climbing may be possible for 3 days, and that is a GOOD MONTH! The clouds in the area lifted just long enough for me to snap this picture from the Parks Highway just north of Talkeetna and the Petersville Road.

This is the view of (L to R) of the Twin Peaks, Goat Rocks and Mount POW/MIA from the Veteran's Wall of Honor in Wasilla, Alaska. The flat topped peak on the right is the only place in the United States that the USGS has named for those who have served their country and paid the price.

This is Mount Kiliak (7,450 feet) from Rapids Camp. Rarely ascended, but possessing some awesome alpine lines on the west face, this peak towers over 6,000 feet above the valley floor. It is one of several alpine objectives less than five miles from the Eagle River Valley trailhead to the Chugach State Park. You can see Yukla Peak just peeking over the south ridge of Mount Kiliak.

This is a view of the tallest peak in the Eagle River drainage. The summit of Yukla Peak (7,535 ft.) peeks over the shoulder of Mount Kiliak. The vertical gain from this point to the summit is almost 7,000 feet. The point on the right is over 5,800 feet tall, which makes it a pretty hefty objective on its own!

The ice climbs across Eagle River from Echo Bend stand out well in this picture taken from the Rapids Camp Yurt on March 10th, 2003. This is the first time in anyone's memory that there has been NO SNOW in the valley at this time of year! You can see that the snow line is up above 2000 feet in this picture, which means no avalanche hazard, but these routes have enough trees around them anyway to minimize the risk.

This is a close up view of the summit pyramid of Polar Bear Peak in the Eagle River Valley. Even though it only just over 6,500 feet high, the vertical gain of 6,000 feet from its base makes it a true alpine objective, and it is only five miles from the trailhead, a rare bonus in ALASKA!!!

Yet another shot of the most photogenic peak in the Eagle River Valley. Rising over 6,000 feet from base to summit is Polar Bear Peak, so named for the hanging glacier on the summit pyramid that looks like a polar bear rug in the summer. Only two or three routes have been completed on this difficult to reach summit, many lines still await the bold or adventurous climber.

Funny name, but a tough little peak. If the avalanches don't get you on the north face, the bad rock and gendarmes on the east and west ridges will. There are some nice ice climbing routes on the lower north side, though.

While waiting for my partner to show up along the Seward Highway, I bouldered and soloed some ice along the way. I kept getting to the top of this flow, but did not have the cajones to move to either side and continue...then half of the flow broke off below me, and I had to downclimb the mixed choss anyway!

After a beautiful sunny day climbing the ice along the Seward Highway, it is time to wrap it up. Inspired by Jody Langford's sunset shots, I had to take this one.