Novice climbs a frozen waterfall near Yellowstone with a Wyoming guide

On a trip to Wyoming, a novice climber learned to ascend a frozen waterfall east of Yellowstone National Park with guide Zach Lentsch, owner and lead guide of Wyoming Mountain Guides. The climb took place on a 70-foot curtain of ice known locally as “the Slide,” not far from Cody, Wyo., in the Shoshone National Forest.

The author drove 90 minutes from Cody with Mr. Lentsch and reached the backcountry by snowmobile for the last stretch. The outfitter supplied crampons, helmet, harness, ice axes and stiff La Sportiva boots for a one-day private lesson that the piece lists at $346.50. Instruction included kicking in crampon points, driving axes into concave ice, and practicing body placement in a cave behind the falls while Mr.

Lentsch set a top-rope belay, securing a rope to a tree at the top of the climb. The climb narrowed the author’s focus to a few feet of work: kicking, swinging axes and trusting the rope belay. The writer described sweating in 40-degree weather, following a woodpecker’s cadence and, after a final push, reaching the top and rappelling down.

Mr.

Key Topics

Sports, Zach Lentsch, Wyoming Mountain Guides, Cody Wyoming, Shoshone National Forest, Yellowstone National Park