It’s never Too Late to try ice climbing
Lou Hart and her expedition in the Ouray Ice Park with San Juan Mountain guides
“Why would you want to do that?” That’s the question I got when I first mentioned to a friend that I was going to be joining our staff for a first time ice climbing expedition. “Why indeed?”, I had to ask myself. After all, it does look COLD, it does look like a lot of work, and wasn’t this sport really more for the hard core adventurers?! But alas, I am at that age where adventures that require some level of fitness, agility, and strength are pretty much a ‘now or never’ proposition. Peak performance is a long way back in my history.
Anyway, I always like to try new things and this would definitely be new to me. I do love adventures. Our crew met Katie, our guide from San Juan Mountain Guides, at the shop at 7:30am. She fitted us quickly with our gear: harness, boots, crampons, and helmet and then made sure we had the apparel needed to keep us warm. A quick ride up past the first switchback of the Million Dollar Highway and we walked another 75 yards to the park entrance.
At the park, Katie assisted us in making sure our harnesses and helmets were secure and that we had adjusted our crampons on to our boots securely. Then we were off. A short trek up the trail passing along the first anchored descents and then we cautiously made our way down to the bottom of the canyon and over to an area known as “The School Room”. I must say that I’m quite sure all of us were feeling a bit of trepidation at this point. Even the tools we were to utilize, metal spiked shoes and sharp-tipped pics, carried their own message of “you really need to pay attention and know what you are doing here”. “You can do this; it will be fun,” Katie reiterated. Her enthusiasm was motivating and her confidence in us was encouraging.
Believing her, I volunteered to go first (while everyone was still warm and patient). The first little challenge was crossing the river on the ladder without looking completely uncoordinated. That challenge overcome, I then faced the wall of ice. Reminding myself of how I had determined that this was a good idea, I resolved to do it. Katie had shown us how to swing the pic mostly in line with the shoulders, one higher than the other. I accomplished that. Then it was about the toe action. “Straight in,” she corrected as I tried to turn my foot sideways and get in as many of those pointy tips as I could. “Okay,” straight in; I made the correction. Up I went, surprised that everything was working, and I was actually making progress in the right direction on this huge ice cube. Wanting to make sure those pics were securely placed, I swung, solidly; it was working! I was climbing this mountain of ice!
Strength was not an issue, but agility is not my strong suit. Wishing once again I was long and sinewy instead of short and stocky, I was convinced that body type has its advantages. But I replaced that frustration with determination and, I must confess, a measure of pride, and I pushed on. A slip or two of my feet from their stronghold, helped me to improve my technique and my confidence escalated a bit. I could do this, I was doing this, and I was actually beginning to see the “why” of it. There was fun involved along with the challenge. I made it over the initial hard part and halfway up the wall. Feeling relatively secure in my present position I stopped to look across the canyon at my colleagues and guide who had been wonderfully cheering me on the entire time. I felt gratified and proud of myself for getting this far. I also felt the need to stand on some solid flat ground and let my appendages know they would not be taxed indefinitely. The descent was fun, Katie allowed my belay to let me down smoothly and I crossed the river back to our safe base. Wow! I had really done it. I had ‘ice climbed’.
If felt good to be able to say so. I would make one more ascent that day, still making it halfway but feeling the need to come down and leave with a positive prospect for the next time. “How was it?” my friend asked when I reported my safe return. “Exciting, frustrating, exhilarating, cool,” all these words and more came to my mind as I described the experience to her. It wasn’t easy but it wasn’t as hard as I expected; it wasn’t shivery cold either like I had anticipated. I could honestly say I now had an understanding of why the word ‘FUN’ would be associated with wearing metal spikes on your feet and swinging sharp daggers over your head in order to ascend a beautiful wall of icicles. It really was FUN! Katie was a great guide and my colleagues generous cheerleaders. Truly, I hope to try it again soon!
