Check out the IMG blog for a quick review of my trip to Ouray on their veterans program:
More to come including VIDEOS!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Sheldon’s Hands…
Folks, for those of us who are climbers, ice climbers or mountaineers… keeping ourselves warm is very important.
Today’s blog post is from a friend of mine: Sheldon Kerr (a ski & mountaineering guide). She has a great article about keeping everything warm in the cold – this is for everyone! Even snowboarders….
Anyhow, the article is up on Verticulture – check it out!
http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/2011/12/keeping-your-cool-in-the-cold/
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Ouray Ice Climbing–> From Seattle
Although Washington State Ice is ok, Ouray is fantastic – IMHO. I’ve never been to Hyalite, but I plan to hit that festival next year to check it out – everything I’ve heard has been really excellent. Today I thought I’d do a quick overview of how to go to Ouray to get some great ice climbing in – and my experiences.
I’ve attended multiple programs through International Mountain Guides. The director of the Ice Climbing program at Ouray for them is George Dunn. George’s credentials stand for themselves: current record holder for most summits of Mt. Rainier. Enough said there.
However, his on the ground staff is fantastic. Both years that I attended programs, I climbed and was instructed by Mark Allen. He’s a great friend and has put up some fantastic experiences of his own. In 2010, he put up a first ascent route on Mt. Bradley in the Alaska Range. The route is called “Vitalogy” and turned into an epic ascent – Read about it here: http://huntingtonsouthface.blogspot.com/. This year, he and his 
partner Graham Zimmerman completed a first ascent on Voyager Peak. Where’s Voyager Peak, you say??? Well, it was an unclimbed peak in the Alaska Range during their Lacuna expedition. Read more about this one here: http://lacunaexpedition.blogspot.com/. Anyhoo, as I get more into alpinism, Graham and Mark are inspirations. To find out more about Mark: http://alpinelines.blogspot.com/. If you hook up with him, tell him I sent you.
How the heck do I get there?
Well, I’ve tried two different methods to get there: Fly to Montrose or fly to Grand Junction. I haven’t tried to drive directly to Ouray from Seattle. Google tells me its 20 hours… but you pass through multiple areas that involve mountain travel so that could be considerably longer.
2010 Travel
This trip, I went to Ouray on a whim and I paid through the nose. I took 5 flights total and still rented a car – an expensive and useful/useless endeavor. United 
Airlines to Salt Lake, then fly to Grand Junction after a 4-hour layover (which put me there at 10 pm), and then drive by SUV 90 miles south down 550 to Ouray. Arrived at 12:30 am-ish. The only part about this was having a rental car – it was nice to do some shopping on the way down. The return was similar – after climbing I drove north on 550 back to Grand Junction, stayed overnight in a hotel, flew to Denver, then to Spokane, then back to Seattle. This trip ended up being very expensive and a ton of logistics.
2011 Travel
My wife and I travelled smarter – and it’s going to be my recommendation. Fly from Seattle to Denver, short layover and then commuter flight to Montrose. From Montrose, take a shuttle – this ends up MUCH CHEAPER t
han the rental car. Shuttle is $40 each way on Telluride Express. The vans are clean and comfortable and the drivers are great! For information, contact http://www.tellurideexpress.com. As a warning, their site doesn’t really mention Ouray, but if you give them a call, they will set you up. They will do pickups/dropoffs to anywhere in Ouray as well – so it’s a great idea.
Ice Park Membership
It’s a good idea that when you go to Ouray, you pick up an Ice Park Membership. This can be found at: http://ourayicepark.com/store/categories.php?category=Membership – Additionally you can buy one in town at Ouray Mountain Sports (http://ouraysports.com/). The membership gives so many in-town discounts to restaurants, shopping and LODGING. The lodging one is great – there are a multitude of hotels with 20% off or more per night! Just do it.
Lodging
The first two visits to Ouray I spent at the Ouray Chalet Inn (http://ouraychaletinn.com/). This is a great budget hotel that’s not very far from the park. With prices like $55 per night with the ice park discount, that’s a great deal. This isn’t the RITZ, but it does the job and it’s on the main street. This year, I’ll likely stay in a condo.
More?
I plan on writing up more information on restaurants, shops and the climbing in and outside the park.
Resources?
Here’s a list of links to get you started:
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