Ice ice baby!

I haven't put anything up on this blog for several months now... for whatever reason, I posted a couple of late, late ski days over on my Trails blog rather than here. People were asking about trail conditions so I posted ski pics for them... think I got the message across?

Ruby Mountain Trails

Anyway, while a couple of people who don't really like their ski bases much have been up there skiing on the rocks, I've been taking a pass and doing some hiking and ice climbing. It's beautiful up there right now, even with the lack of skiable snow.

From an ice climbing trip with friends on Saturday:

Gotta love ice climbing. The approach almost always involves a ridiculously steep walk up AND a bushwhack! Fortunately, this climb, aptly named Season Opener, is one of the easier approaches.

My friend Bruce and my dog Cody got to spend some quality time up there.

Jeff hadn't climbed ice more than once or twice, and hadn't done it at all for a couple of years. My husband Ken gave him a quick "Ice Climbing 101" class.

And then belayed him as he gave it a whirl. Jeff was STOKED to get up there!

Why bother with a rope?

I've never been one for high heels...

Erik showed up just as we were packing up to go drink beer... did a couple of quick rope-free laps since he'd gone to the trouble to get all dressed up and everything...

Sweet canyon view... and one that only the climbers and mountain goats get to see.

I think given the conditions that ice climbing rather than skiing is likely to be in my immediate future. This isn't too terrible in the scheme of things.