By Caleb Stento
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How appropriate that a festival that comes together each year supported by the volunteer spirit of giving was capped off in that same spirit. Ines Papert, who won first place in the mixed climbing and speed climbing female divisions, turned around and gave her winnings from the speed competition back to Ouray Ice Park, Inc. (OIPI).
“We handed her an envelope and she turned around and handed it right back to us as a donation to the Ouray Ice Park,” OIPI President Mike MacLeod said. “It was an incredibly generous gesture.”
Despite the intolerably cold temperatures, the 2013 Ouray Ice Festival was definitely a success. According to MacLeod, turnout was good for the competitions, clinics and events.
“We’re really happy. We think it was a great fest,” MacLeod said. “It was super cold out there but the crowds were good. All of the evening events were pretty much sold out. We had tons of traffic at all of our shows.”
The food vendors were successful as well. Taylor Chase, Ouray's French teacher, relayed that although final numbers haven't been tallied yet, the French Club raised close to $3,000 for their trip abroad. "It was amazing and we are really appreciative of the community support," Chase said.
The hype around the newly installed competition tower was definitely justified. Spectators had fantastic views of climbers from start to finish on the routes, and the extreme difficulty of the course made for exciting viewing.
“That was a huge challenge for some absolute elite athletes. But, that’s the goal. They’re all too good; we have to make it hard,” said MacLeod. “Our biggest goal with the comps this year was to make them more spectator friendly. I mean they are all about showcasing the cool sport we are all into.”
A noticeable aspect of this year’s mixed climbing competition was the increase in competitors over last year—25 compared to 16. OIPI’s efforts to bring in big talent from all over the world seemed to have paid off. “We made an effort to get athletes…and a concerted effort to get more women climbers to participate,” MacLeod said. “We wanted our comp to be a reflection of what we see in the park, and that is that the fastest growing segment of new ice climbers in the park is women. We worked really hard to go out and get those competitors here.”
We can't wait to see what is in store for next year.