Ames Ice Hose

Both Amanda and Jeff climbed Ames Ice Hose the other day after over a decade break from ice climbing!

  

A few weeks ago Gordon was in town and wanted to give ice climbing a go.  I knew that Jeff hadn't been in quite a while so I invited him as well.  The 4 of us spent a couple hours at Cascade Canyon north of Durango remembering how to climb frozen water.

Fact: 'Duck Lips' reduces pump.

 Fast forward a couple weeks. We drove up to Ophir on a Thursday hoping to avoid crowds.  Unfortunetly a crew from Ouray beat us to the parking lot.

Random trail head dog leading the way.

Ouray crew.

The Ouray crew was on the first pitch when we rolled up to the base.  We waited until they were off the pitch one anchor.  Killing time by listening to Pandora and drinking tea.

Pitch 3

 Both Amanda and Jeff seriously crushed it.  Super impressive performances on a sustained San Juan Classic.

All smiles on the hike out.

I didn't sleep much before the climb so I was pretty beat by the time we got back home.  I was in bed asleep by 6.