My family visiting the world of make believe

Here’s a good one….for my 50th birthday (last December) my mom wanted to take our entire family somewhere to celebrate the fact that I had actually made it this far. The destination was to be a surprise, so you can imagine my astonishment when I found out we were going to Las Vegas  – not to climb at Red Rocks but to play in the bright lights of that overwhelming city. Yikes.  Admittedly, I’m a good sport and I choose to see the best in most situations….so being wined, dined and entertained was rather fun I have to admit.  For an avid adventurer who seeks the solace of those quiet places where nobody goes…I was shocked into the reality of the human race. A city on steroids with ‘super-size me’ written all over it. If variety is the spice of life, then that trip was Hot! But there’s no place like home….there’s no place like home…..

Bridalveil Falls

It’s been 11 years since I’ve climbed Bridalveil Falls in Telluride and back then, I didn’t lead the difficult 2nd pitch. For some reason, the climb has always intimidated me and for years it was closed, making it illegal to climb. This San Juan classic is now open to climbers and it sees ascents almost daily. It was the climb on my 50th year hit list that I most anticipated because for some unknown reason, I had decided that leading all of Bridalveil was something I didn’t want or have to do. But now that I was getting my grrr back…that perspective changed.

Mr. X and I headed up for the second shift on March 11th with a guided party ahead of us. As we walked up to the climb the beginning of the route wasn’t obvious to either of us and I kept staring at it wondering if I’d actually get on it. The party coming off happened to be good friends and we got a little beta which helped my confidence… at least I knew where to go. We got on the climb around 2:00 PM for the second shift, which was perfect.

Putting in a screw on the 2nd pitch

This year, both the first and second pitch proved to have some interesting climbing on it and to my surprise, I actually had a lot of fun leading it.  Poor Mr. X got a scare right off the bat when I took off on the first pitch and my crampons skidded out from under me, on what we now refer to as the “gerbil ramp”. Luckily after that (not so) impressive start, I got my act together and enjoyed weaving my way through the ice on this sometimes convoluted route. As the belayer, you can only see the leader on the first few feet of each pitch – so to reassure my nervous partner, I yelled down occasionally to let Mr. X know how I was doing. I remember saying two things: “I’m having fun” and “watch me, this is tricky”, the irony being that he couldn’t actually “watch me” at all. That about sums it all up.

Kim & Mr. X

Climbing is an intense internal dance and I love holding it together while solving the pieces to the puzzle as I go. The complete and total focus of that moment, the camaraderie and trust of my climbing partner makes for a powerful shared experience. When Mr. X reached the top of the first pitch, we made eye contact and he said to me “who are You?”  Now that I think of it, I often wonder that myself.

1st Pitch (photo: Sandy Heise)

Whorehouse Hose is another San Juan classic that is tucked up in one of those really cool places deep in a narrow canyon. You can see the first pitch from the road, but the rest is always a bit of a mystery as it steps up and meanders to the third pitch several hundred feet above. I love being there tucked away, out of site and out of mind. It’s places like this that first drew me to the aesthetic beauty of ice climbing.

I ventured here with my X-office assistant, Sandy Heise, since Mr. X was off doing his Cop thing in Crested Butte. Besides, I do love climbing with the girls! Especially Sandy after having shared plenty of office time together at the Chicks with Picks head quarters, it was fun to get her out to play! Sandy left the job three years ago after falling in love with a man from Durango…sweet. I’ve missed her calm presence amidst the chaos of the never-ending to do list that being self- employed offers.

Photo: Sandy Heise

The first pitch was really thin and I could see the water rushing underneath it about an inch away at times. The climbing was so delicate and fragile that I was grateful that I am relatively light at 110 pounds. The first pitch is an honest full rope length followed by a small snow field and easy 2nd pitch that was a snow ramp. Then you have to walk a little ways to third pitch around the corner. This pitch looks so different each time I’ve climbed it, this time it was easy with a lot of small ledges for some super fun climbing. Two rappels and you are down. Great day out with a good friend.

2nd Pitch

OK truth be told, I haven’t been on the sharp end of my rope in a few years, but who’s counting? I got busy, I lost ambition or didn’t feel like I had it in me to lead anything sort-of hard anymore. Who knows?

So here we go. My new climbing partner actually showed up as planned so we headed off for our first climb together on Ames Ice Hose near Telluride – a classic three pitch climb that offers steep, narrow and long leads. We hiked in and had to wait for the second shift, getting us on the route around 2:00 PM which was perfect. Kitty Calhoun and I had been on it a week before though we only had time to each lead one pitch before she had to pick up her son Grady at the ski area. I lead the first pitch with Kitty so I let Mr. X jump on it this time before I took the 2nd and 3rd as to complete my goal to lead the entire route this season. Mr. X looked solid enough and I thought to myself that he will make a fine partner…plus he was proving to be a lot of fun.

Kim pointing to the third pitch

When I was half way up the third pitch a certain unnamed party came up and ruined our wilderness experience by the seriousness of their need to climb everything in one day, pass us by and set the world’s record on speed coiling. Whatever. After the satisfaction of making fun of their serious mood, we hiked out after a successful and fun first climb together. Nice! Off to dinner in Telluride before Mr. X had drive home to his girlfriend. What a pity.