Winter can be a tough time for a lot of outdoor people. A large majority of people depend on warm weather to get themselves outside. Luckily for Colorado, there's a ton of rad things you can do in the cold seasons. A recent weekend with four smelly guys in Ouray happened to be the mixture for two of my favorite winter activities: ice climbing and snowboarding.
It can be difficult to put adventures at the top of your list when you have bills to pay, but there was no way any of us were going to miss the infamous Ouray Ice Festival. You not only get to demo a ton of well made gear from companies you look up to like people, you also get to meet people from all over the country (and sometimes world.)
I really believe that winter sports create the most incredible outdoorsmen. You have all of these extreme sports that take so much patience, thought, skill, strength, and you add the factor of cold and harsh conditions. You never know when a piece of ice the size of a car is going to come crashing down, or when an avalanche is going to crack. Plus, no one enjoys cold extremities. You push through all of that, because everything around you is beautiful, and everyone with you is stoked.
I'm incredibly thankful that I find myself in situations that I never thought I'd be in. I never really expected to spend this much time with these people. Nor did I expect to be doing such rad shit with them. When you commit yourself to the outdoor community, you have to commit to saying "yes" as much as possible. Otherwise, you won't get to experience as many things.