The Forest Service reports that an effort to allow heli-skiing for the first time in the Centennial Range near Island Park is still stalled at the beginning of the process.

“We’re still working on the application and what it would take for me to even accept that application,” said Caribou-Targhee Forest Service ranger Liz Davy.

Davy said the Forest Service was approached about a year and a half ago by the Yellowstone Club, a private group in the Big Sky, Montana, area, with the idea of taking clients heli-skiing to five different areas in the Centennial Range.

The Yellowstone Club dropped their interest in the proposal, but another company has taken up the idea.

After consulting with a Forest Service biologist, three of the areas were taken off the possibility list.

“We necked it down to two because of conflicts with wildlife and concerns of what use in those areas would do to wildlife, primarily wolverine,” she said. “There’s a lot of concern from our wildlife biologists about the effects of helicopter use on denning bears and wolverines.”

The two possibilities remaining are the Sawtelle Peak area and the Reas Peak area.

While things are still in the preliminary idea stages and no permits have been issued, Davy said she has already received “hundreds of comments and most of them are not supportive, but also a lot of them are form letters.”

The organization Winter Wildlands Alliance erroneously posted on its website that “the Caribou-Targhee National Forest is about to issue a permit for commercial heli-skiing on the north side of Mt. Jefferson and several of its neighboring peaks in the Centennials” and requests followers to write the Forest Service.

Davy said her office may issue a research permit this winter season to allow guides from the company to snowmobile into the area and explore its safety, potential landing and pick-up sites and avalanche potential. But many questions remain before her office will even accept an application for heli-skiing.

“The next step would be for them to complete a full-blown application that addresses our questions,” she said. “We may have additional questions as this rolls along. I have to decide whether I will even accept the application or not. I have criteria that I use to evaluate applications. If it meets all the criteria, I can accept the application.”

Once an application is accepted, the Forest Service will conduct an environmental analysis which includes taking public comment.

Davy said heli-skiing is controversial in the places it’s allowed in the Rocky Mountains. Heli-skiing operations have been operating out of Jackson, Wyoming, in the Bridger-Teton National Forest for decades. A day of heli-skiing is advertised at $1,550 per person.

Ice climbers call it “The Pain” or “The Screaming Barfies.”

It’s a pain that often comes after several minutes of climbing in the cold with arms raised high and a lack of blood flow to warm the fingers.

Men and women will lay in the snow and moan and cry when the blood returns to their cold fingers, nerves in the hands scream in agony as if on fire. Fortunately, the pain subsides after several excruciating minutes with no lasting effects.

“That’s ice climbing,” said one long time climber. “The misery index is much higher than with other types of climbing.”

But for many climbers, the attraction to climb ice scratches the itch to get outside during the winter, to possess more cool gear or to keep in shape during the off months.

“I like being out in nature in the winter, climbing these beautiful formations,” said Idaho climber Sam Roundy on Facebook. “The ice climbing community seems a little more open. … There is certainly more risk of having stuff fall on you. … It’s not a bad way to spend a day.”

While the allure of rock climbing seems to be captivating a generation and making its way even into the summer Olympics, ice climbing’s popularity is growing at a more glacial pace, at least in East Idaho.

During a recent ice-climbing outing in Teton Canyon, Sheldon Christensen of Idaho Falls gave out a gleeful shout halfway up a frozen water flow.

“I love ice climbing,” he said. “But I have four young kids and don’t get out as much as I’d like.”

Popularity in East Idaho is also limited due to access. Another limiting factor is the added equipment required, costing hundreds of dollars more than regular rock climbing gear.

Rexburg ice climbing expert Scott Hurst said his favorite places to ice climb require hours to get to or the need for snowmobiles. Two popular ice climbing destinations include Teton Canyon east of Driggs and Hyalite Canyon near Bozeman, Montana.

“My favorite place to climb hands down is Hyalite Canyon because of the variety and there’s lots of ice,” Hurst said. “The two times I’ve been there this winter, I climbed different stuff than before. It’s fun and engaging. There’s quite a bit in Hyalite Canyon, we’re talking hundreds of routes. Water ice easy to water ice hard.”

The Hyalite Canyon ice climbing guide book boasts of more than 150 ice routes in less than 3 square miles. Each winter, Bozeman offers an ice festival inviting hundreds of climbers for clinics, classes and socializing for most of a week. Sadly, the pandemic canceled this season’s festival.

Because Bozeman is more than 3.5 hours from Idaho Falls, that puts Hurst on the lookout to discover ice flows worth sinking crampons and tools into closer to home.

“Some of my favorite stuff that I’ve been climbing on has been really obscure and stuff that’s around and doesn’t get climbed on much,” he said. “There’s some stuff up Indian Creek. It’s fun, but hard to get too so you don’t go to it all the time. There’s some stuff in the Lost River Range. I’ve been to several, like the north face of Borah Peak.”

Many climbers want to “give it a try,” but experts advise that just like rock climbing, potential ice climbers need to get good tutoring and understand that while there are similarities to climbing rock, ice climbing is a different game.

One of the world’s most famous ice climbers, Will Gadd, said in a recent online blog, “Realize that falling off while leading an ice climb will likely result in a minimum of badly broken leg, ankle, head, pelvis, neck, back or all of this list, and set your mental dial and approach to the day appropriately. It’s not rock climbing.”

With rock climbing, falling is normal, often encouraged when trying hard. The No. 1 rule in ice climbing — at least when leading a route — is don’t fall. Remember that ice climbers have lots of sharp, pointy pieces of metal hanging from their harnesses, boots and in their hands that can go where you don’t want them to should you fall.

Hurst, who has taken hundreds of Brigham Young University-Idaho students ice climbing while serving as the school’s Outdoor Activities director, said instruction is key.

“Get some good instruction to begin with, that makes a big difference,” he said. “With your initial experience with ice climbing, it will be hard for you to master the technique. Once you have the technique down it will be a piece of cake.”

The technique involves learning to ascend the ice flow by kicking in front points of crampons and hammering in the picks of your ice tools. One expert ice climber describes it as “kick, kick, swing, swing, repeat.” While it sounds simple, it can be challenging and thrilling at the same time. Different kinds of ice also presents different challenges.

“One thing people do is work harder than they need to at it,” Hurst said. “(Such as) swinging the tool too much, hanging on your arms too much and not trusting your feet.”

Hurst also said people can get into trouble trying to lead routes before mastering basic skills. He recommends that climbers get mentoring from skilled friends, at festivals, such as the one in Bozeman or from guide services.

“The biggest thing with ice climbing is to go with someone who knows what they are doing and appreciate cold fingers and cold toes,” he said.

The Forest Service reports that an effort to allow heli-skiing for the first time in the Centennial Range near Island Park is still stalled at the beginning of the process.

“We’re still working on the application and what it would take for me to even accept that application,” said Caribou-Targhee Forest Service ranger Liz Davy.

Davy said the Forest Service was approached about a year and a half ago by the Yellowstone Club, a private group in the Big Sky, Montana, area, with the idea of taking clients heli-skiing to five different areas in the Centennial Range.

The Yellowstone Club dropped their interest in the proposal, but another company has taken up the idea.

After consulting with a Forest Service biologist, three of the areas were taken off the possibility list.

“We necked it down to two because of conflicts with wildlife and concerns of what use in those areas would do to wildlife, primarily wolverine,” she said. “There’s a lot of concern from our wildlife biologists about the effects of helicopter use on denning bears and wolverines.”

The two possibilities remaining are the Sawtelle Peak area and the Reas Peak area.

While things are still in the preliminary idea stages and no permits have been issued, Davy said she has already received “hundreds of comments and most of them are not supportive, but also a lot of them are form letters.”

The organization Winter Wildlands Alliance erroneously posted on its website that “the Caribou-Targhee National Forest is about to issue a permit for commercial heli-skiing on the north side of Mt. Jefferson and several of its neighboring peaks in the Centennials” and requests followers to write the Forest Service.

Davy said her office may issue a research permit this winter season to allow guides from the company to snowmobile into the area and explore its safety, potential landing and pick-up sites and avalanche potential. But many questions remain before her office will even accept an application for heli-skiing.

“The next step would be for them to complete a full-blown application that addresses our questions,” she said. “We may have additional questions as this rolls along. I have to decide whether I will even accept the application or not. I have criteria that I use to evaluate applications. If it meets all the criteria, I can accept the application.”

Once an application is accepted, the Forest Service will conduct an environmental analysis which includes taking public comment.

Davy said heli-skiing is controversial in the places it’s allowed in the Rocky Mountains. Heli-skiing operations have been operating out of Jackson, Wyoming, in the Bridger-Teton National Forest for decades. A day of heli-skiing is advertised at $1,550 per person.

After a bull elk got entangled in a backyard swing south of Ketchum, residents are reminded to remove all lawn furniture and playground equipment during the winter months to avoid wildlife entanglements.

Wood River Valley residents notified Idaho Fish and Game on Jan. 11 that a bull elk had his antlers caught in a backyard swing while still attached to the tree at a home in Gimlet, south of Ketchum. Before officers arrived, the elk had broken free of the tree, but the remaining wooden seat of the swing as well as several feet of rope remained caught in the antlers. It was determined that the only way to free the elk was to anesthetize the elk using a dart.

According to Senior Conservation Officer Brandyn Hurd this was the second time that this bull had a run-in with a piece of backyard equipment. In mid-October the same bull elk became entangled in a large hammock that nearly took his life when it became water-soaked when the bull went into the Big Wood River.

All big game that receives an anesthetizing drug is given a green ear tag with a unique identification number. Once the Fish and Game team was able to inspect the bull, they found the existing ear tag that confirmed it was the same elk from the October incident.

“All backyard furniture and playground equipment needs to be removed and secured during the winter months,” Hurd said. “Wildlife can easily get entangled in this equipment which puts the animal at risk, but it also puts the Fish and Game team at risk when using drugs to anesthetize the animal and working to free them from backyard equipment.”

Residents are encouraged to inspect their yards for items that can ensnare wildlife and put everything away in the garage or other secure storage area. Big game animals like deer, elk and moose are especially susceptible to entanglement in ropes, swings, wires, cords and strings of lights because of their large antlers. Entangled wildlife can sometimes asphyxiate, die from exhaustion, or injure themselves in efforts to get free.

After a bull elk entangled in a backyard swing south of Ketchum, residents are reminded to remove all lawn furniture and playground equipment during the winter months to avoid wildlife entanglements.

Wood River Valley residents notified Idaho Fish and Game on Jan. 11 that a bull elk had his antlers caught in a backyard swing while still attached to the tree at a home in Gimlet, south of Ketchum. Before officers arrived, the elk had broken free of the tree, but the remaining wooden seat of the swing as well as several feet of rope remained caught in the antlers. It was determined that the only way to free the elk was to anesthetize the elk using a dart.

According to Senior Conservation Officer Brandyn Hurd this was the second time that this bull had a run-in with a piece of backyard equipment. In mid-October the same bull elk became entangled in a large hammock that nearly took his life when it became water-soaked when the bull went into the Big Wood River.

All big game that receives an anesthetizing drug is given a green ear tag with a unique identification number. Once the Fish and Game team was able to inspect the bull, they found the existing ear tag that confirmed it was the same elk from the October incident.

“All backyard furniture and playground equipment needs to be removed and secured during the winter months,” Hurd said. “Wildlife can easily get entangled in this equipment which puts the animal at risk, but it also puts the Fish and Game team at risk when using drugs to anesthetize the animal and working to free them from backyard equipment.”

Residents are encouraged to inspect their yards for items that can ensnare wildlife and put everything away in the garage or other secure storage area. Big game animals like deer, elk and moose are especially susceptible to entanglement in ropes, swings, wires, cords and strings of lights because of their large antlers. Entangled wildlife can sometimes asphyxiate, die from exhaustion, or injure themselves in efforts to get free.

The numbers don’t lie. More Idahoans and people across the nation decided to take up fishing or return to fishing in huge numbers this past summer.

Experts, and at least one study, point to Americans rediscovering the outdoors during the pandemic. In Idaho, fishing license sales generally increase a few thousand each year, but in 2020 more than 41,000 more people bought fishing licenses from January to through October compared with all of 2019 — 2019: 185,812 and 2020: 226,928 (January through Oct. 31).

The rush to do more things outdoors did not go unnoticed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

“The South Fork at times was especially crowded,” said James Brower, regional communications manager for Fish and Game. “Camping was more crowded. Those places that are well-known and easy to access and close to the major population centers, those places got pounded pretty hard.”

Brower said family fishing ponds, such as those at Ryder Park, were busy almost daily.

A national study and survey sponsored by the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation found that when Americans saw their typical summer activities and vacations squashed by the COVID-19 pandemic, they turned to outdoor recreation. Many people were trying activities for the first time.

“With all the uncertainty that 2020 has brought, fishing and boating provide a host of benefits including peace and relaxation, quality time with family and loved ones and even simply the calming effect of nature,” said Stephanie Vatalaro, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation.

The group’s national study found that millions of new anglers are “younger, more urban and more diverse” and nine out of 10 new anglers plan on continuing with the activity in the future.

In Idaho Falls, Samuel Helmuth said he took up fly fishing last year.

“No knowledge and not much gear except a rod and dry flies, but I’m hooked,” Helmuth said. He said the pandemic influenced his push to fish and “it was a good way to get out and socially distance while trying to find small streams to wade through.”

Taylor Rusinsky of East Idaho said, “I took up fly fishing this summer. It has been a huge learning curve but I am loving every second of it.”

Heidi Carson of Idaho Falls took up “tenkara” fly fishing last year. Tenkara fishing is a simple, reel-less type of fishing imported from Japan usually done in mountain streams.

“I was getting outside more because of COVID, hiking and backpacking,” Carson said. “I like fishing in general but gear is heavy to pack. I discovered the tenkara fly fishing rod … The whole things weighs and packs down to half the size of a flute. It is fun and an effective way to fish while hiking.”

Carson said she started up an outdoor women’s Facebook page last year and now has more than 300 followers.

“I think it is because of COVID that more people are getting outside,” she said. “Among other things, I wanted to put together a small group in my group of tenkara hikers.”

Fish and Game said it is happy to see the resurgence in outdoor activities and encourages the use of the resource.

“Nationwide, the trend is that hunting and fishing are on a slight decline,” Brower said of years past. “In Idaho, we’ve been pretty lucky. We’ve been stable or sometimes on a slight increase. Partly that’s due to the fact that a lot of people move to Idaho because of the resources that we have here, the public land that we have to enjoy and the hunting and fishing opportunities. For many people it’s the reason they’re coming to Idaho.”

Not everyone is happy about the resurgence fishing has seen. A Facebook query had some grumping about crowds, more trash, and out-of-state anglers.

“Every single time I floated the river this summer (30+ times) non-resident plates outnumbered local plates. And I rarely floated on weekends,” one poster wrote.