So for us the high point of the Ice Festival was the clinics. Each clinic was only $20 per person and was limited to 6 people (sorta..). We did 4 outdoor clinics and one indoor/outdoor clinic.
Also you got to demo (for free) a *huge* variety of gear. Amber demo'd plastic boots and grivel crampons and I demo'd Petzl Quark tools most of the weekend. It was another great thing about the weekend to just be able to take gear and try it out.
Friday Morning - Easy/Intermediate Ice with Greg Jones
This was our first clinic for the weekend and was fun, it largely felt like a simple top-roping session on mostly water ice 3 climbing. There was not a lot of content from the instructor but he covered the basics well to start to get it drilled into our heads (keep your heels low, don't step to high, gain height by standing up rather than pulling on arms etc.) but it was fun climbing and a great way to kick the weekend off.
Friday Afternoon - Intermediate Ice with Rich Marshall
This was probably the best clinic of the weekend. Rich is a great instructor and both Amber and I learned an incredible amount from this clinic. In fact I would seriously consider paying for guiding/instruction trip with Rich. http://www.mountainguiding.net/ Rich also competed in the competition and placed 3rd overall, that gives you an idea of his technical abilities - but his instructional skills were also world class. I tried climbing leash-less for the first time and while I can definitely see the advantages I am not convinced I can see myself leading leash-less any time soon. It was very enlightening how pumped I got climbing leash-less as I was definitely overgripping on the tools for fear of dropping them.
Saturday Morning - Intermediate Ice with Freddy Grossniklaus
Another excellent clinic. Freddy, like Rich, was a very experienced instructor. In fact both of them were examiners for other potential instructors and both had 20+ years of instruction experience. The biggest thing I got from this clinic was a very clear picture of how "box" versus "triangle" climbing styles. Freddy was very good at describing the two styles and then giving you tips as you were climbing to get you into the style better. He also had us do a climb in some "fruit boots" which were very interesting to climb in - they felt a lot like climbing in a rock shoe, but the mono points did not feel as a stable or secure as dual points. I assume that the more you climb in mono points the better the would feel. I climbed the same WI4 pillar I got pumped stupid on the day before while climbing leash-less and climbed it easily and without getting pumped at all. So either the boots, the fact I had leashes or another full day of experience meant I got up it significantly easier. (I assume it was a combination of all three factors)
Sunday Morning - Avalanche 101 with Matt Wade
Yet another excellent clinic. We had the luxury of being in a classroom for much of this clinic rather than standing around in the 12 degree temperatures outside. This is a clinic that almost seems like it should be mandatory for anyone ever heading into the back country. I had read much of the content in assort books, but having it all put together in a clean fashion was invaluable. We also got to use avalanche beacons and find and dig up a buried beacon. Overall a great clinic.
Sunday Afternoon - Feeling solid on Ice with Jay Smith
This was a much more introductory level clinic but was still very good with Jay having 10+ years of instructional experience. We also climbed out of the School Room area and the ice conditions with much less beat out and challenging as a result. It was a bitterly cold climbing session though and after the first climb my fingers went through the joy of "reheating" as the circulation came back - it hurts a lot. Fortunately for me the first time was the only time it felt like that and the other 2 climbs were just fine. Amber got a really nice mental picture of how the triangle style should work from Jay's description and example. This really illustrated how great the clinics were because you got different perspectives and detail from each of the instructors.
....Some photos from the festival's comp on Saturday
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