Every year Phoenix Multisport puts on a winter trip to the quaint mountain town of Ouray, located on Colorado’s Western Slope. It’s Phoenix’s most popular trip and features ice climbing, snowboarding, skiing, snowshoeing, and hiking. Phoenix took over most of the Best Western Hotel and Condo’s just off Main Street for the multitude of employees, sponsored athletes, members, and friends who showed up for four days starting on New Years Eve.
I had a powerful cold, turned sinus infection the last week of 2008 and wasn’t certain if I’d make the trip at all. Jo left early on the morning of December 31st, while I slept in to fight the sinus infection. After my morning dose of antibiotics and cold medicine I felt well enough to make the 6 hour drive, and was on the road by noon. I made good time over Loveland and Vail passes and the Rhone Plateau to Colorado's Western Slope. When I reached Grand Junction the delirium of 4 hours on the road was setting in and my tank was running dry. It was also to time take my PM dose of antibiotics and cold medicine. Here’s a short story about the gas station I went to:
I pulled into a Loaf -n- Jug on the eastern edge of town. When I stepped out of the truck my foot stuck to a putrid mix of black sludge, spilled gasoline, and what looked like bits of vomit that coated the concrete. On the other side of the pump there was a guy in a tinted 1980’s Camaro suspiciously fiddling with something behind the cover of his tint. Careful not to slip on the coated the concrete, I put the gas nozzle in my tank and went inside to use the facilities. The attendant behind the counter stared vacantly at me as I walked through the door. The locks of his thinning, comb-over mullet rested gently on the stained shoulders of his Loaf -n- Jug jacket. He looked like Jo Dirt’s older, balding brother. I asked him which way the men's room was and he grunted in the direction of a darkly soiled fake wooden door at the end of the candy isle. I'll leave the details of the men’s room to your imagination. When I walked out of the bathroom the vacant gas station had filled with a line of animated characters. I needed a bottle of water to chase my pills with and waited in line for what seemed like an eternity to pay. I was mildly entertained when a toothless man in front of me got in an argument with Jo Dirt’s brother over value of a winning scratch-off lottery ticket. I couldn’t understand what either was saying in the heated exchange, but they seemed to understand each other perfectly. I paid for my water and got the hell out of there.
Back at the truck it took considerable skill to stow the gas pump and maintain my balance on the slippery, frozen mix of gasoline and vomit. I reached behind the passenger seat and grabbed a cloth Whole Foods bag I had filled with cold medicines. I struggled lifting it at first until I realized it was stuck to the carpet. As it pealed away I saw that Robitussin had spilled through the bag and formed a large dark pool. Argh!! The thick “tussin” had soaked deep into the carpet, it would never come out. Protecting my seats from wayward drips I managed to get the bag out of the truck to pick out the contents and clean them. The first thing I grabbed was my tussin soaked bottle of expensive antibiotics. Just as it cleared the top of the bag the lid fell off. Time switched to slow motion as I watched in the pristine white pills shower down into the sludgy gasoline and vomit below. Some landed vertically like lawn darts in the sludgy mix then expanded as they slowly dissolved in the moisture. I rescued as many as I could, but all were tainted.
Now I was in a jam. I was about to spend the next 5 days in a mountain town where the closest thing to a pharmacy was a Ma & Pa general store. I had already started taking the antibiotics and my sinus infection was beginning to subside. If I stopped taking them the timing was perfect for my infection to rebound into an antibiotic resistant one. It was late on New Years Eve and I didn't have the time to find a pharmacy and get a new prescription filled. I'd have to salvage what I could and force them down until I got back to Boulder. Defeated, I put the bag back on top of the stained stop carpet behind my seat and continued my drive on to Ouray. The bloated pills I rescued reeked of gasoline and reminded me of the incident as I took them twice a day through out the trip.
After stopping at a car wash to steam the carpet in my truck and buying food (which I forgot in my cold medicine induced haze), I rolled into Ouray just after 8pm. Jo met me at our Condo with John and Tracy who drove up from New Mexico. I hadn’t seen John and Tracy in a year and was stoked that they made the trip. The lingering bitterness I was harboring from my gas station experience slowly faded into smiles and laughs has Jo and I caught up with John and Tracy. John from Denver and his friend John showed up next with a new (used) snowboard for me. He took some time to get it dialed just like my old one. I brought the RC helicopter (here) just in case my sickness flared up and I was stuck in the Condo while everyone was out being active. It was good fun tormenting everyone that wondered into our Condo.
Ouray
Our Condo
Before long midnight and 2009 were upon us. Ouray is known for two things, ice climbing and hot springs. Our hotel had a spring fed outdoor hot tub and swimming pool that offered a perfect view of the New Year’s fireworks. The air temperature was -25C and thick plumes of steam rose from the pools. We shed our jackets at the last possible moment and ran across the icy concrete to the oasis of warm water. As midnight approached the number of bodies in the confined hot tub grew from comical to ridiculous. It was so cold, though, nobody seemed to mind. We all brought in the New Year watching fireworks through the steam, soaking elbow to elbow in the mineral rich water.
New Years in the Hot Springs
Phoenix had worked out half price lift tickets to Telluride for the 1st and 2nd day of the year. The spring water worked wonders on my sinus infection and feeling somewhat better, I was eager to try my new snowboard. Jo was ice climbing so, John and I headed out early meeting the two Denver Johns in the parking lot. The snow was descent for early season, but nothing to write home about. John and I took it easy exploring the mountain and getting dialed on my new board. The slopes were empty, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the views from the top of the mountain were spectacular. It was a great first day of the year. The entire trip had dinner in our Condo that night which was filled with more laughs, stories, and RC Heli tormenting.
Telluride New Years Day
(poor quality iphone pics)
Dinner at Our Condo
The next day John and Tracy had to head back to New Mexico. Jo and I wished them well and headed back to Telluride with the Denver Johns. We met up with Jen, Ashley, Ally, Mike, Matt, Todd, and some other Phoenix people and spent the day riding the mountain together. It was similar to the first, but the slopes were a little more crowded. We left early to meet with the ice climbing contingent in large hot springs back in Ouray. There were some mule deer grazing in the baseball field next to the springs that were tame enough to let me get a few close up shots. John snuck up close to the buck, but backed off then he turned and lowered his rack. After the springs we waited an hour for the only restaurant in town with a table big enough to seat all of us. The service was terrible, but we were so hungry it didn’t matter.
Day 2 at Telluride
Deer in Ouray
John Harrassing Them
Our Crew Looking On
More Deer
Patty and Nick
Alley and John
The other John
A & J
Ice Climbing was the plan for Saturday. When I woke up at 6am, my sinus infection was catching back up with me. I decided to catch another couple hours of sleep and meet everyone in the canyon. When did I drag myself out of bed it was snowing silver dollar sized snowflakes in near whiteout conditions. I ran into Chris and Chip and we headed up to the park. Ouray Ice Park is located in a narrow section of Uncompahgre Gorge just outside of town. The walls are coated in thick man made curtains of ice that offer beginner to advanced ice and mixed routes. Chris and Chip are both experienced ice climbers and set up on a steep route called tic, tac, toe. I hung out for a bit then ventured further up the canyon to find the rest of the Phoenix group. They were in a narrow section under a metal pipe cat walk. Scott was up top setting up a new top rope. I hung with him for a bit and he gave me a refresher on 2 point anchor top roping. Jacki was climbing a route below us and I got some good shots of her and with Jo belaying below.
Ouray Ice Park
Chris and Chip
Scott
Jacki w/ Jo belaying
Descending into the Canyon
After a while I headed down to the bottom canyon. The yellow mineral rich Uncompahgre River snaked through the gorge and was the only thing not covered with heaps of snow. The Phoenix crew was gathered at the center of the gorge with several top rope routes set up. Jo was hooking in to climb a route on staircased ice that blended into a steep vertical curtain on the west end of our area. I got a few shots while Rourke belayed her. After that Rob climbed an overhanging mixed route like a rock star while everyone cheered. Ben gave me a basic intro on tool placement and using dual point crampons and I hooked in to climb the route that Jo did. I climbed a bit in my younger years, but with my focus on cycling and hang gliding I have to admit that I’m not much of a climber these days. I made it about half way up and had had enough. I’m pretty sure I could have used my misery tolerance to get all the way to the top, but I just wasn’t feeling it.
The Phoenix Crew
Jo
Rob on a Mixed Route
Alex
After climbing Jo and I headed back to the hotel and enjoyed a mellow afternoon. Saturday night was more of the same with laughs, stories, a little RC helicoptering. Jo and I packed up and headed back to Boulder on Sunday. It was four days packed with good times and good company; I can see why it’s Phoenix’s most popular trip.
Wave Clouds on the Drive Home
No comments:
Post a Comment