Day 5 in the Park

The daily grind was bumped up by half an hour, but my alarm wasn't set correctly. I went to breakfast, got the game plan and we left promptly to beat this weekend crowd and got to the Scottish Gullies at 0740. We set up a number of lines and I tried on my new MARMOT XT glove I bought last night from Ouray Mountain Sports. They felt fine in the shop last night but felt more like oven mitts when I put them on at the crag-CRAPTACULAR! I walked all the way back into town to exchange them at the shop when they opened at 9ish. It began to snow!! This was how the day was going!

Popstar
Sunscreen	Aye Laddy

We set up mostly WI4s in and around the competition board (Dizzy Curtain WI4, popStar WI3, Sunscreen WI4,Ach Mon WI4 ) and we ran laps for hours by the time the pretty snow turned to a sleety mix. The ice is spectacular but the snowy precip  made dressing for the occasion a little tricky. First of all it must be in the upper 30s so we are already wearing the bare minimum to balance temperature regulation once we get pumped out. I had switch to a water resistant shell that soon got soaked and then switched to my new Patagonia Nano puff storm jacket which was waterproof but way too warm for the conditions-UGGgggg. It was raining now and everything was getting wet. Many of us wore eye protection that quickly either steams up or gets wet with the wet stuff and rendered useless. Today was an exercise in frustration but the climbing was excellent!

	Mark on Tic-Tac

Mark Elton lead Tic-Tac M6, SeamStress M8  in his fruit boots to a most impressive display of climbing talent. He is a beast! There were a group of Mexican climbers who took turns sending these mixed routes that was unbelievable to watch. Mark shredded a lot of the mixed pieces in the Scottish Gulies. Mixed shit is quite impressive!


It was raining when I finally had enough for one day but I had climbed enough to be satisfied. These same routes that I backed down from last year, I completed with no problem. The steep routes seemed to be a matter of having a solid base in 2 good feet and moving efficiently on the ice with good sticks. At any rate, whatever I am doing,  I am moving through these climbs and feeling foot; I am not spent at the end of the day and worthless for the next. I guess it is because WE are having so much fun shooting the shit and climbing. Today, in the rain, I could tell it was a little subdued but we still believe a day ice climbing in soaking wet conditions sure beats the shit out of not climbing at all. We have 3 more days left here and one may be spent skiing in Telluride but  at $106 + rental gear I think it will have to be lotsa of pow-pow to go; we haven't heard snow reports yet. I think we will head to the Grad School tomorrow.