It's 7,792 ft. in Ouray. It was 19 degrees when we walked down into the canyon. Perfect weather for our first day of ice climbing this season. Sean set up a toprope in the South Park area, and we played on that for the afternoon. It was a late start after sleeping in and letting the dogs run around, but good fun nevertheless. I was excited to be swinging axes and kicking crampons. By the end of the session, I almost felt like a bonafide climber again. I started to trust the rope and use my feet more, and things went much better. The first time back on ice after being off it for a whole season is always going to be a bit rough, so I was stoked to start feeling good on Day 1. We played on WI 2/3 for the day. Sean knocked some ice in his face and knicked it drawing a bit of blood just for good measure. Sean had some great attempts, looking good on the ice, except that he pumped out early in the forearms.
Now we are back in Room 12 at the Timber Ridge Lodge, relaxing and warming back up. It took a bit of time to get the feeling back in the toes, so I will likely use some toe warmers tomorrow...even though it's not really that cold in the world of ice climbing. We used our microwave to heat up some soup and pasta, and Sean scarfed down some peaches while I downed some mango apricot juice to refuel. Now time to enjoy some hot tea and rest.
Bishop having a parking lot romp with another climber's dog.
Bishop on the run!
Bishop trying the turn around move.
Amber on the approach to South Park.
Amber heading to the climbs.
View from the top of the climbs.
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