Korean World Cup:
I wanted to say what a great event the Korean Ice Climbing
World Cup was. From the hospitality to
the structure and everything inbetween, they provided a great and well
organized competition weekend. I was
totally blown away by the support of the local community and the broader
population as a whole. There were
literally thousands of banners and flags along with commercials on national
TV. Here is a little taste of the
weekend.
As for my result. I
felt that I did ok. I slipped off of a
hold that a lot of people slipped on except my tool didn’t stop and it sent me
falling. As was the same for last year,
I came away with the drive to continue training and to become better.
The Olympics:
Due to the terrorist attacks, continued threats as well
as several personal issues with regards to family and business, I have decided
to forgo my opportunity to participate in this year’s ice climbing demonstration at the Sochi Winter Olympics. This first crossed my mind when they were not
able to make this a World Cup style event opting to make it an actual ice
climbing demonstration instead.
This was a very difficult decision as many people have shown
great support and many others are depending on me going but the safety issues
were the final straw. I hope that everyone
that decides to go is safe, vigilant and has a great time.
ATC Climbing Festival:
On a brighter note, this Saturday will make the first annual
Alpine Training Center Ice Festival at Lincoln Falls. CAMP-USA will be there to demo tools and I
will be there to teach a mixed climbing clinic.
Afterwards we will stop in Breckenridge to have food and beers. If you would like to come (and you should it's free)
feel free to hit me up or look for the event on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/events/1377078022536954/?ref_dashboard_filter=calendar).
Work:
Spending some time away also got me really motivated for
this coming year of work. I am really
excited about the direction of OURAY Environmental Services and believe that
this will be a very big year for us.
With a little luck, some very positive things will be reviled this year.
Support:
I would also like to thank Vega (http://myvega.com)
and NW Alpine (www.nwalpine.com) to
deciding to support me. What a great set
of companies and a great group of people to work with!
