“Casual” Ice Climbing Adventure

Before a trip to Telluride, Colorado, we were chatting when Ken. After his usual deep-dive research, he had called us over to his desk with a sparkle in his eye and said, “What do you think about ice climbing?” He said is was something he always wanted to do and we were welcome to go. "It will be fun" he said.

A few days later, we found ourselves pulling up behind a sketchy garage in Ouray, Colorado, Ken had found a guide willing to take us climbing for $100 each and he would supply all our gear. We assumed we were heading to the famous Ouray Ice Park. Instead, the guide greeted us with, “We’re not going to the ice park—it’s all chipped up and crappy. I’m taking you where I climb.” So, we piled the gear and us into his 4-door beater car and off we went.

Fast forward an hour and we’re hopping a guardrail on a mountain highway and descending snowy switchbacks to a 165-foot frozen waterfall. It looked both epic and absolutely insane. By the end of the day, we had climbed two different routes on a towering sheet of ice—and I discovered just how out of shape I was crawling my way back up to the car.

But hey, we climbed a frozen waterfall. And somehow, we still trusted Ken again after that.