Climbing waterfalls: How the Bozeman Ice Festival is growing the niche sport

Each fall as winter nears and cold temperatures descend on Hyalite Canyon near Bozeman, water that weeps from the cliff bands lining the canyon walls freezes into bulging layers of ice with translucent hues of white, yellow and blue. And each year, that frozen water allows human to defy the gravity that pulled the water out of the rock in the first place. 

If, of course, they're willing to climb it. Many are. And fear is sometimes the best motivator to keep climbing, but there are a lot of things about ice climbing that go well beyond the simple act of climbing up a vertical frozen waterfall. 

On this episode is Joshua Murdock, the outdoors and natural resources reporter at the Missoulian, and a rock and ice climber himself. He spent four days at the Bozeman Ice Festival, climbing a bit but mostly reporting and photographing different aspects of the event. 

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Montana Untamed, hosted by Thom Bridge, covers the state's rugged landscape from hook and bullet to policy and science.