A Life Without Climbing; AKA Winter

If official.  Winter has arrived on the Western Slope of Colorado. The snow tires are on the car and I've excepted the inevitable, a life without climbing.  Or, at least a life without consistently perfect climbing conditions that are readily accessible and at my beacon call.  You can climb here in the winter, it's just a lot less perfect.

I've decided to make a list of 8 things that keep me psyched in the winter.

1. The Glenwood Hot Springs
After a long day of work or a cold day out climbing nothing beats a soak in the Hot Springs Pool. It doesn't matter if there's a complete blizzard, you can always swim laps in the hot springs (the lap lanes are always a lovely 90 degrees). I love this place!

I borrowed this picture from http://www.hotspringspool.com/

2. The Puoux
The Puoux is a little limestone band in the Glenwood Canyon, just on the edge of I-70. This petite crag gets direct sun for most of the day and hosts several stellar lines. The best part, if the clouds roll in, you can be at the BrewPub in less then 5 minutes.

Photo by Sam Elias

Wendy Williams photo by Andrew Bisharat

Danny Robertson photo by Andrew Bisharat

3. Super Happy Fun Time
There's a restaurant called Zheng's Bistro in Glenwood that has the best happy hour in town. For $7 you can get a drink and an appetizer! Several of my favorite teacher friends and I are regulars here!

photo by Andrew Bisharat

4. Skiing
I learned to ski on Christmas Day a few years ago.  While I've improved dramatically since then, I'd still call myself a 5.7 skier. Basically, I'm terrible. But, being terrible at skiing is a lot of fun. I love the fact that I can actually feel myself getting better each time I go out.

5. Football
I secretly LOVE football. Bad weather gives me the perfect excuse to watch!!

Super Bowl Party 2009

6. Urban Road Trips
When it gets too bleak, I like to head to Boulder/Denver for an Urban Roadtrip. Going to Movement is almost the same as going to Rifle. Well, maybe not exactly the same, but at least all of the same people are there. A weekend in the city is also a perfect time to go shopping in real stores and at Whole Foods!

photo borrowed from Movement's Facebook page

7. Ice Climbing
Haha, that one was a joke!  I always try to go, but I never manage to enjoy it.

8. Quality Time to Relax
The winter months are a great time to catch up on relaxing and spend some time with my friends. A time to let my muscles and tendons rest and recuperate.

Happy Winter everyone.  I hope you have your own ways of staying psyched!