This is my good friend Adam putting in a little pro on his way up the Harney Ice Flow.

This is just a shot at Adam's extremely attractive ice protection and twin-rope style.

This is a picture I popped off at the top of the flow after climbing it. The boot with crampon point in the corner is mine.

This is the slender column we found after a long slog through 2-foot-deep snow out in Spearfish Canyon. Apparently, this is just a "drool" compared to the curtain of ice that normally develops over this cave-like wall.

Well, it's climbable and Adam proves it with a daring lead.

I don't normally do this, but I had to pass off the camera for a quick run up the ice. Adam really captured the emotion and depth of the moment... well, he took a picture of me goofing around at the bottom of the column. The belay has been entrusted to my other climbing hero: Matt Jackson.

Here's a shot of my (not-so)graceful kicking technique. The secret to kicking your front points into hard ice is to just pretend you're Jeremy Johnson (my friend who is nearly a Black Belt in Tae Quon Doe) and that you've just beaten an opponent to the ground; I've been told that the next part to conquering an oppenent, who has fallen, is to promptly kick them before they can get up.

Yeah, ice climbing looks easy, but that's just me making it look that easy.

So far, I've learned, at least, one important thing in ice climbing: don't try to pound your tools or front-points into the ice if there's already a nice hole or something to step on. This is me showing off a nice hooking placement up high while cranking on a nice turned-out foot hold.

Finally, here's the magazine cover Adam shot. If anyone from Mountain Hardwear is reading this: yes, that's the Ethereal FTX Parka; nothing even comes close to providing the protection and comfort of Mountain Hardwear's jackets (MH rep: please e-mail me if you would like my shipping address for sending me any free stuff, hehe).