Hello Ouraynates!!!

It is fine time to be thinking about what rolls around in January every year besides, New Years,  and the Ouray Ice Festival-the yearly migration to Ouray to climb ice!

This year, as every year , the plan is to come to the Ouray Ice Park AFTER the Ice Climbing Festival (ZOO scene 1st weekend in Jan) and AFTER Martin Luther King's weekend (2nd (3 day) weekend) when we seem to have the ICE PARK and the town to call our own! Last year we had around 15 people come and go that weren't necessarily available for this group shot.

The ice park has sponsors that give great discounts on lodging, food and swag!!

This year we have figured out a way to enjoy Chef Rob's cooking at the Backstreet Bistro on Tuesdays by arriving Tuesday January 22nd and leaving Wednesday January 30th. Yes we are planning this around Rob's Tuesday special thanks NAZ's tip one year....

I priced the flight the other day October 6th-ish and they were $510 rt from DCA to MJT. A number of Establishments will pick you up from the aeropuerto if you stay with them. Better to call ahead and shmooze with your hosts before hand.

I usually and have always stayed at the Comfort Inn for the hospitality of Betty and Ted, but I really stay there because Betty bakes us cookies everyday and they are still hot by the time we shlep home when the park closes at 4-4:30... the park doesn't really close, but they turn on the shower heads at the top of the climbs to replenish the ice for the next day!!!  (WHAT??!!!!) that's right!

You don't need a car, but some times I think it would be rather Vince of me to drive the half mile up the road with pastry and coffee and park in the park superintendent's parking space for the day-every day!!!
There are other climbs up camp bird road some have only heard of but easily accessible by autocar. There is also Dexter slabs which could be a nice place to hoof it to climb....see the epic description of this climb somewhere on this site...

Bring your gear, rent the gear, hiring a guide, be the guide! It's all there! The guide service rental place will also give you a break on the rental, look for our club stick pinned to a letter of thanks I wrote them a few years back while in the shop!!!

I will have the spread sheet going to organize this gig soon....I can't wait....it is a totally causal trip...I swear it is like climbing at Carderock because many of us are right there and it is fun! We see the same people year after year and we meet at this time to play, climb and rain chunks of deadly ice on one another!

So there ya have it. Lodging, airfare, vittles.....

Day Six , the final day in the Park

We could agree to stay a few more days climbing here in the park; six days have gone by in a flash. We were surprised to see it snowing at a good clip this morning on the last day of our week long trip. We converged on the Grad school area to take advantage of the 45M routes. Lowering into the gorge freaks people out because you have to be able to climb back out. We set up on DISSERTATION WI2 20M; GRE WI2 20 M; RESEARCH WI3 45m, with variations on each depending on how you climbed it from the bottom. The snow was light throughout the day but it was much colder.

We took turns running laps on these routes. The WI2 routes were not cake walks with steep sections of ice followed by ample rests. A 45m ice route seems endless. While dropping in on RESEARCH you go over 2 distinct bulges. The first was an incomplete double curtain connected by a small pillar in the center and a ramp on the right. As you continue down to the next drop off you stand on the edge and look down on to the floor of the gorge which is still another 50-65 feet or more of the steeper section below. The ice on this steeper section was beautiful. This climb was very long and rewarding in that you had to pull 2 awkward bulges to the top. The amount of snow that covered the route made this a pretty demanding climb.

Betty and Kornilia showed up and we had a good crew climbing. They moved back to the ALCOVE area and set up Camino WI3 25m and Jesus Christ Built my Finger Crack M7(WI3+) 30m

We ended the day with the anticipated dinner at The Backstreet Bistro. Our visit to Ouray maximized our time on the ice for a season given the weather we have back home. I sit here writing this when I should be packing and already I am looking towards 2013s Ouray trip.

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Top of Grad School

Bottom of Dissertation	Bottom of Dissertation	Bottom of Dissertation
Bottom of Dissertation	Looking up on Research	On the river floor at the bottom of research
Leah loving her Ouray experience

Day Five in the Park

After breakfast we scooted on down the road and got to the Upper Bridge area and set up WHIT's WORLD WI4 40M; BERZERKER WI5 40M;PICK O' THE VIC WI4 40m. The upper bridge area is a belay from the top section of the park into routes that are longer and begin at a harder grade. When you are lowered into the gorge, you MUST be able to climb out. The climbing today was long and sustained though we elected to climb select areas of routes that had better ice. An interesting ice formation I encountered looked like ice cubes or ice balls instead of solid blue ice. Watching some of our guys climb Berzerker was pretty impressive. We hooked up with Peter Smith and Von Slingerlund. Saif and Ross Downer had to leave to day. The remainder of the crew leaves Wednesday. More images of the daye to follow.

Day Four in the Park

The morning after the snow storm brought a beautiful stillness to the mountain setting. Every small sound was amplified 10,000 times. The sun began to peek through the clouds around 0945 and the familiar Ouray Setting was restored: Blue Bird skies. We are climbing today in a an area known as the GRAD SCHOOL. The climbs in this area of the park are 45 meters and one must belay form the top. We climbed here a couple of years ago after a similar snow storm brought about 18 inches of the white stuff. This made for a really exhaustive day climbing ice because the ice was completely covered under about a foot of snow which meant many many pick swings before reaching ice in which to gain the safety of secure purchase. It is absolutely a beautiful day.

Day Three in the Park

Winter has returned to the world at least in this part of the country. Each morning has been colder and colder. The winds were predicted to rip with snowfall throughout the day; so we might be careful what we wish for. We scooted on down the road this morning to set up some routes in ALCOVE. John and Christina got there early enough ( nearly missed claiming this anchor by 5 seconds!!!) to set up Camino WI3; we later were able to climb Banderlero WI4 from these anchors as well. I got there soon afterwards and set up DEAN's LIST ICE  WI4 (bolt#2) and Saif set up READING WI4 (bolt #6). From this time forward the wind increased to 20-30mph and air temp was probably 35; wind chill : freezing ass cold. Around 10am the first snow flakes filled the air until it formed a horizontal slip stream in the wind. This wind-snow added to the dramatic oh-shit effect while climbing vertical ice 20-30m off the deck. Wind burned faces are the badge of honor that identified climbers here today that said, "yeah I missed watching the playoffs on TV, and I'm glad I did."  John Smith setup a photography nest on a ledge and spent the day capturing images on Camino and Banderlero. Another great day  of climbing ended soaking my tired muscles in the hot tub in a snow storm!!!!! Invariably we have the best eats in town at the BACKSTREET BISTRO

Start of the 3rd day	Jason on Dean's list	Ross Downer making the dean's list
Later on in the day as the lines fill up	Up Path to the catwalk. You can avoid the heinous walk down upstream from here by taking this to the stairs.	Looking downstream towards the ALCOVE
John photographing one of us on Camino
A view upstream towards the school room	Leah's helmet Drama!! LOLOLOL	A view from under the catwalk while it snows
Unknown climber on DUNCE WI4	This is a very steep staircase and not for the feint of heart. It is tricky negotiating the rungs with crampons.	Brian
Jason	Vincent	Christina
Christina	JWSmith	Ross Downer

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Looking up stream towards the schoolroom	A view from the landing of the stairway to the bottom of CAMINO and John taking pics.
JWSmith	Accurate view of the steepness of this insane stairway. The sign is for liability purposes I suppose.