Ouray Ice/Mixed

It snowed 40 inches in the Cottonwoods this weekend...so we went out of state. Too much powder. And, too much skiing with that traverse last week. So, we made a quick trip to Quray, CO to check out the ice park. There are a ton of adventurous world class ice flows in the area, but the park is an artificial gym of ice. We wanted to get in some milage and practice at a grade that we'd be too (insert derogatory word) to lead.

Thus, we were top rope heros...

JD took a spin on a delicate pillar to start things off.


Then NB, who has more experience than all of us pulled a dinner plate onto his face and...

Ended up with three stitches in his nose.

JD getting gnarly


Rapping back down for more


JD dry tooling


Maybe the most fun part was our solo train to exit the canyon. We found an easy ice gully that brought us back to the sunlight. NB starting off.


Solo train


Of note, my TLT boots climb ice as well as normal mountaineering boots. Nice to know for future plans.

Vacation is over. Back to work.