Well, I’m finally back in town after completing a Wilderness First Responder course up in Jackson, which was a great experience. I feel way more confident to deal with emergency situations in the backcountry, and for the time being, have a pretty good knowledge of what to do in specific situations. Broken femur? Traction splint! Open chest wound? Cover it up! A couple things really stood out to me, one being how many different ways there are to die! A whole book full of them, in fact! It gave me a new appreciation for how fragile life is, despite how tough we think we are at times.

On a lighter note, we got out on some ice yesterday, and things in Redstone are looking great with all the new snow. There is ice dripping in everywhere, including a few pitches I’ve never seen before. Game on!

Also, Bryan Gall reported on the message boards that Pitkin County recently purchased the parcel of land that’s home to the Drool, one of the finer routes in Redstone. I talked with a rep from Pitkin County Open Space who confirmed that they had indeed purchased it, and that access to the ice route will be preserved. They will most likely be working on a management plan for the parcel this coming summer. Kudos to these folks for securing an excellent climbing resource for the community. That was only part of the appeal on their end, but for climbers, this is fantastic news.