- Fossil Mountain Ice Cave
- Wind Cave
- Darby Ice Cave
- Darby Canyon Cave
- Fossil Mountain and the Caves of Darby Canyon
- Darby Canyon Wind Cave
- Darby Wind Cave
It has many different names. It is just one cave. It wants to kill you.
This cave is incredibly dangerous. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been caving before, this cave is different and here’s 7 reasons why:
- It’s DEEP, and LONG. Even experienced cavers who know this cave well can spend 5-15 hours underground (and that doesn’t even include the 6+ miles of surface hiking!)
- Speaking of the hiking above ground, you’ll need to carry about 40 pounds of gear over 2,000′ up in elevation in a formidable 3 miles. It’s a strong workout just to get to the entrance (at which point you’ve got 10% of the trip finished)!
- Pull-down rappels mean that you can’t turn around. If you get lost or someone gets hurt, there’s NO TURNING BACK!
- Swimming/Wading through 38 degree water will cause your feet to go numb in about 30-60 seconds. Crotch Lake is in the middle of the cave, you still have to walk, crawl, and rappel through the second half of the cave while soaked (The air is also 38 degrees).
- The first 1,500 feet of the cave is covered in ice year round, and includes several vertical drops (one over 60′ tall) that all require rope. A single misstep could send you hurtling down the ice until a rock eventually broke your fall.
- It’s a literal maze down there. This cave is over 3 MILES LONG and it hasn’t even been fully explored or mapped by the experts. Why? Because it’s COLD, LONG, HARD, and DEEP and shouldn’t be discounted.
- If there’s an ice plug at the bottom of the cave (and there is at some point EVERY SINGLE YEAR), then you can’t exit the cave and you’ll soon be an ice plug yourself.
You should only visit this cave if someone in your group has been there before!
A caver rappels next to a large wall of ice in the cave – Photo courtesy of Phillip Schuchardt 
The lower Wind Cave entrance with snow falling outside – Photo courtesy of Ian Chechet
But what if you don’t know anyone who has been here before?
That’s where groups like the Northern Rocky Mountain Grotto come into play! We’re a grotto (or internal organization) of the NSS, a national group dedicated to the discovery, documentation, and conservation of caves across the US and world. We have two big meetings every year in the spring and fall, and several smaller regional “pub nights” across Montana throughout the year. We suggest that you join your local grotto (we think we’re a great choice!), and then go attend a caving event! There you will meet cavers who will be glad to answer your questions and help you get ready for a trip like this. After learning “the ropes,” you’ll be ready to tackle crazy awesome adventures like this one, and maybe even more spectacular ones after you master the Fossil Mountain Ice Cave Trough Trip!!
