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Published: July 16th 2009
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Coiling rope at Ouray Ice Park
This is me after a short climb in Ouray Ice Park in the San Juan Mountains of Southern Colorado This is an older trip, I am mostly just trying to figure out how to get the pictures to work properly and make sure I know how everything works.
I took a 2 week trip to the San Juan mountains in Southern Colorado to go ice climbing and skiiing. We left with no particular plan or schedule, just to climb and ski as much as we could. We stayed in a fairly affordable cabin at a great rate (Riverside inn- recommended) and climbed/ skied everyday. We climbed at the Ouray Ice Park. The park is a very unique climbing area because the climbs are not naturally occurring. In general ice climbs are formed by waterfalls freezing solid as winter approaches. However naturally formed ice climbs are few and far between, often requiring hours of slogging through powder snow to get there. At Ouray ice park hundreds of lines are available for an easy ten minute walk or much less. From where I parked you could easily yell at the nearest climbers. Now that's a great approach hike. At Ouray Ice Park the climbs are artificially made by spraying the cliffside with water every night. The water flows through city pipes
Ice Climbing at the Ouray Ice Park
Somebody climbing a classic route in the Lead only area directly above the upper bridge. on top of the cliff and sprays out through nozzles. In the evenings the staff warms the pipes with a blowtorch and open the nozzles. By morning a slightly thicker ice cover will form. The ice "farming" keeps reasonably fresh ice to sustain a season worth of ice climbers. The climbs are not terribly tall- the tallest might be just over 100'.
I think most people have no idea what ice climbing is all about. It's kind of like rock climbing except instead of rock it's frozen waterfalls. I kow- it sounds odd, but trust me its fun and not nearly as cold and miserable as it sounds. Ice climbers use ice tools and crampons instead of hands and feet. Crampons are steel spikes that clamp onto or are bolted onto stiff boots. Ice tools are fiberglass (or aluminum or carbon fiber) axes with a sharp serated pick. Instead of using nuts, bolts, cams etc. we use ice screws. It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Mark and I climbed a few days in the park and climbed a handfull of the taller WI5 routes. We pansied out one day after just two climbs when a snow storm
Ouray Colorado in Winter
From the top of box canyon staring out over the mountains rolled in. I could barely finish a climb without my hands going numb. Dealing with ice screws and carabiners is difficult when you're doing it by sight and not by feel. It was 10 degrees (f) at the top of the canyon and blowing like hell. Generally the weather in the Ouray area is more mild than the surrounding areas partly because it is lower in elevation. We managed to to get out into the backcoutnry as well, climbing in Silverton, Eureka Springs, and I hit up Telluride as well.
I spent a few days skiing while Mark climbed with some friendly strangers we met at a bar on New Years. I skied a little bit at Silverton Mountain which is one of the steepest ski areas in the country. At the top of the lift, all runs are rated double black or double black-ex(pert). Silverton is not a ski resort, rather a lift accessed backcountry ski area. They don't own the land, but they own the lift. You buy a lift ticket and get to ski on national forest land. The base area is not your typical ski resort with big parking lot, restaraunt, and lodge. Instead it's
Ice tool for climbing
A close up of an ice tool used for ice climbing. It is basically a fiberglass axe with a sharpened tip and a hammer on the back side. The handles are shaped to be easier to hold. a tent full of old sofas selling bottles of water and lift tickets. Since the area is so steep avylanche beacons and shovels are required for everyone. This area of the San Juans is very avylanche prone. On multiple occasions I had to ski around holes created by the artillery shells used to control avylanches. The ski runs don't bring you directly to the base area as in a traditional ski resort. Instead a retrofitted fedex delivery van comes to pick you up. Imagine 40 skiers and equipment packed in a 2- wheel drive van with people hanging out the door cruising an icy road in the mountains. The van ride was fun the first time but is uncomfortable to anyone too tall to stand upright inside it. Anyway it was a fun and challenging day of skiing. It's not everyday you get to ski double-diamond top to bottom. I got my truck stuck on the icy road trying to cross red mountain pass trying to get to Ouray. My POS truck refused to engage the 4wd so getting stuck was inevatable. Some Colorado local backcountry skiers came to the rescue and towed me out so I could get the
Mark Ice climbing in Ouray
Mark climbs ice at the Ouray Ice Park tire chains on.
It was a fun and relaxing trip but after 2 weeks it was time to back to classes.
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