January 7, 2011- Ouray Ice Festival

Climber on mixed route near the upper bridge.

Friday morning groaned to a start as we woke up in our apartment and hit the road for the 2011 Ouray Ice Festival.  We arrived in the wee hours of the afternoon just as the sun, hitting the mountain peaks to the south of Ouray, began to cast shadows down over the rims of Box Canyon.  But, things were in full swing.  Everywhere, people in brightly colored Gore-Tex strode about wearing their mountain boots and crampons carrying with them on their backs all of the latest fashions in light-weight backpacks and shiny new ice tools.  The ice-shrouded walls appeared to be under siege as clinics and gear demos were being held throughout the canyon.  Forgoing, the village of tents set up by vendors from around the nation, no doubt displaying all of the newest technology in mountain sport, we made our way up the canyon in hopes of finding a peace of ice to claim as our own.

Fortunately, having slept in, we arrived at the easiest climbing, in the furthest reaches of the groomed canyon as the clinics were beginning to pull their top-ropes.  We built our anchor and abseiled into the canyon as the minions of clinic attendees were dispersing.

Elizabeth, ice climbing before she turns 30.

As the cold began to settle in for the night Elizabeth and I made a few quick laps on our climb.  Elizabeth who had included ice climbing on her "Things to Do Before I Turn 30" bucket list dispatched of the difficulties with great ease.  Considering that it was her first time on ice and that I was unable to provide her with any useful instruction on the subtleties of bashing one's way up the frozen vertical water, she did quite well.

As the sun sank lower and the shade became darker we collected our things and hiked out of the canyon, amazed by how quickly the hordes of climbers had disbanded and left the park eerily deserted.  After a quick bite to eat at the Ouray Brewery (where the beer is good, but the food is fantastically overpriced) we finished the evening by soaking our cold bodies in the local hot springs.