Ian

Today was the first day of my last semester at Adams.  I am only taking 8 credits consisting of Historical Geology, a field excursion to Capitol Reef National Park in Utah over spring break, and my senior capstone which is basically a final, senior project.  The lack of a “normal” class load will surely be compensated by the final project.  Not sure what I am doing it on, but I will have to figure that out pretty soon.

The winter break went well.  Spent 10 days in Virginia visiting family and friends and then came back to Alamosa to spend some time snowboarding.  To finish the break off, ASAP had its annual 7-day winter training where we got a Level 1 Avalanche certification, did some ice climbing site management stuff, and some winter camping in snow shelters.  So overall a pretty good break.  Here are a few pictures from said break.

A place near and dear to my heart; a swimming hole at Sugar Hollow outside of Charlottesville, VA

Kyle, ice climbing.

Sunset as seen just through a patch of trees by our camp site.

The kitchen.

Temps are dropping and water is doing that thing it does when it gets cold. Why is this good? It’s good because this new seasonal state of matter that water has entered provides entry into the world of winter sports. The Thanksgiving dinner I had with my boss, Mick, was fantastic (loved the purple mashed potatoes!) and the days to follow only got better. Friday a few of us went to North Clear Creek Falls to hopefully find some ice to climb. Our wishes were granted and we were presented a gorgeous waterfall of ice. I’m relatively new to the whole ice climbing game but it’s starting to grow on me. Then the next day a buddy and I went to Wolf Creek which was great even considering the early season conditions. So yeah, a pretty good break. Here are a few pictures of North Clear Creek Falls

My first ice climb of the season

Derek on lead