It’s been five years since the last time I was in Ouray for the annual Ice Festival . The Ouray Ice Festival was first organized in 1996 by Jeff Lowe, and events such as the elite ice climbing competition, myriads of climbing clinics, slideshows and dinners generate proceeds toward the maintenance of the Ouray Ice Park.

I had a fabulous time in 2007, but I wasn’t sure if my newly reconstructed knee could handle ice climbing and the steep descents into the Park. However, all the other stars were aligning – I would be in Colorado for a NOLS Wilderness First Responder course and for a client board meeting. How could I be so close to Ouray and not at least take a peek?

After the final exam of the WFR course, I swung by Neptune Mountaineering on my way out of Boulder. After suffering year after year climbing in my Scarpa Inverno double plastics with intuition liners (the space age material that keeps your feet dry in tough mountain conditions, but can let your heels slide right up on technical terrain), I decided my Christmas present for myself would be a pair of more specific ice climbing boots and crampons. Perhaps if I suffered less, because I couldn’t trust my feet, I would ice climb more. I fully expected to be s.o.l. given the small window of time I allotted to shop for them, but I was pleasantly surprised with the wide selection of boots, including women-specific boots. A friendly fellow named Dan patiently helped me find the right fit of La Sportiva Nepal Evo’s and sized my new Black Diamond Stinger mono-point crampons so I could hit the ice climbing (Thanks, Dan!).

via Sierra Journal

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