So Saturday I went Ice Climbing…true story. I woke up, layered up and walked with duffel bag in hand onto the bus. I did this on a whim too…signing up for this trip I mean. I didn’t know anyone who was going. AH! But there ended up being people I’ve known casually throughout my years here, and new people that I became friendly with.

So, we drove into town, where we stocked up on cliff bars at the Mobil gas station, and was given our ice climbing equipment at Rock and Snow. That was my first time entering that store, and I gotta say that I liked it. I may trek on back there to get a warm, stylish hat: mine is starting to meet it’s retirement phase.  Check out their site at http://www.rockandsnow.com/store/. At any rate, we had 2 instructors who gave us our boots to try on, our crampons, our ice axes, our helmets and our harnesses. Here, this will be a good visual for ya: http://www.rockandsnow.com/store/department/33/ICE-CLIMBING/. So off we went to our site, in the Catskills near Hunter, NY.  The area was called Stoney Clove (AKA the playground). It is located at Notch Lake on RT 214 N about 2 miles before the town of Hunter, which is about 45-60 minutes away. Now, when we got off the bus, we put on our helmet, our crampons, our harnesses…and we were set! Here’s a group shot of the lot of us!

Alright, so we had to hike up a heck-of-a-lot to get to the climbing site. That killed me a little. I was getting all hot from the layers and the climbing up ice, snow, rock, and mud. It was odd.

At this point we had the crampons on: those spikes attached to our boots. I’m telling ya every time I hear that word, crampon, I think of…well…that feminine product. Nuff said. Anyway, we were hiking on up which took a little while. We were high up! And we stayed up there till about 4! When we weren’t climbing we were sitting on the rocks or the snow or the mud (you’ll see some of the affects of that from the back of our pants.) Once we finally arrived at the ice climbing site, I was so nervous to go up there! I didn’t think I could do it! The day before I went to the gym and did this kinda hard workout…what happens if my legs gave out? Or what happens if I fell? Well, I found out you can’t fall! I mean, you’re on a harness and if you lose your gripping, you are suspended in mid-air. Kinda Coolio (yeah, I went there.) Anyway, I did do it, (SUCCESS!) and here are some more pictures of the day! OH YES!

<–This shot is of Justin Krzeminski, the president of the Outing Club, here at SUNY New Paltz.

Check out the Outing Club facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2200816661

<–Here’s Jen Reid turning around with a smile on her face at her accomplishment!

Here’s Schuyler Penny climbing to the top!

This is me, climbing on up. See how it’s a mix of ice and rock? I found that to be difficult, but sometimes you just had to locate small ledges to pull yourself up instead of sticking the front spikes of your crampon in the rock- that doesn’t work.

<–This shot is courtesy of Jenny Brannigan who was also on the ski/snowboarding trip to Hunter last weekend.

Here’s Jenny Brannigan, herself. This shot was taken by Schuyler Penny.

Alright, so I went on this trip for a mere 25 smack-a-roos! That’s right! I hear it’s hundreds of dollars to rent an instructor and all the equipment normally. So aren’t we lucky!! It was a great experience, a great workout, and a lovely, not too cold day. As you can see, the sun was shining brightly! So everyone check out the trips they hold at the Athletic and Wellness Center! There’s a newsletter that comes out via e-mail. Just sign up at the gym to get it e-mailed to you, and you’ll know all the whereabouts! Good deal, ey? Alright gang, stay happy and healthy…OH AND ENJOY THE NICE WEATHER THIS WEEKEND! 50s I hear!

x0×0,

Kristen