Ames Ice Hose & a Blizzard? Sure.

Yesterday was a great day in Telluride if you like ice and snow, or more like snowy ice, and come to think of it, snowy everything (snowy rock, snowy gloves, snowy jackets, snowy pants, snowy boots, snowy faces, snowy ropes - just snowiness in general, if that's a word, which I'm pretty sure it isn't).

My good buddy John and I decided to head over from Ouray to climb the mega-classic Ames Ice Hose. The Ice Hose was one of the few routes I knew I needed to climb when I came out here for the winter and it didn't disappoint. It's an unbelievably elegant looking line, snaking its way six hundred feet up a massive cliff sitting high above the old mining village of Ames. The route is steep, atmospheric and amazing.

At times the ice is no wider than your shoulders as it passes through the second pitch chimney, and by the top you're in a sea of it. Amazing. One of the best routes I've done in a while, and the storm we climbed in only added to the character of the whole experience. The complete picture set is up on my Flickr account. Awesome stuff (the climb, that is).