Once we got situated in our new ownership digs at the comfort Inn and arrived on time the day before, we got to the nearly deserted ice park vacated after the biggest Ouray Ice Festival ever a few days earlier. I decided to take the group photo as soon as I thought about it. Every year we take a picture and half the folks flake out or something. 2 of the climbers pictured, Alina and Mack, summited Mount Everest last year on separate expeditions, but they saw each other at base camp. This was Mack's 3rd attempt. The 2nd attempt ended in tragedy when 5 members of his team perished during the earthquake that struck in 2015.
With the experience of 8 consecutive seasons at the same time of year, we wasted no time in claiming ice routes in the nearby School Room.
These routes are oh so simple to set up as the park provided bolts and chains to facilitate a safe and convenient anchor setup.
There have been improvements at the School room and most of you who dread the down climb into this area will appreciate the following images.
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| Ice Park Engineering |
