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01/28-29/12 Miles spent the w/end with Lori, Cody, and Tess while Jean and I headed
down to the Ouray Ice Park
with a group of friends for a two day blitz of ice climbing. It was awesome to
be able to hang out and climb to our hearts content without having to worry
about nap-time and entertaining a 3yr old. We drove to the Rodeway Inn in
Gunnison on Friday night and met up with Keith, Beth, and Steve. We drank a
couple beers while catching up on each others lives and turned in early for an
early wake-up. It was minus 14 degrees Saturday morning and we grabbed some
breakfast sammy's and coffee for the rest of the two hour drive to Ouray. We
pulled into town right around 9:30am and went right to the climbing area. We
geared-up in the parking lot and did the short walk to the box canyon. Dwight
and Marlene were going to have some ropes setup already that we could share,
while Wayne, Bob, and Sharon were helping out with their HAMS
students. We found Bob right away near the Kids Wall and boogied right past the
Schoolroom. We were amazed at how many people were here! Ice climbing has really
gained some popularity. Every route was occupied in the New Funtier and we
finally found their bandana-marked anchor/rope towards the end of South Park. We
attempted to set up another rope here, but there was no belay spot at the
bottom. Dwight and Marlene had already climbed a few times and were more then
happy to take a break while we each did several laps. It felt awesome to be in
Ouray again on the vertical ice! Despite it being a few years, Jean totally
rocked it shooting up and down the two routes. They were fun routes with many
variations possible. After we each did 3-4 laps we moved the ropes down a few
climbs for a some variety. Another several more laps until it was close to 4pm
and the park closing. We were having way too much fun to even stop for lunch and
just ate some snacks instead. |