But the best thing about new snow is the beauty that it brings to the San Juans, making this a winter photographer’s paradise. While July and September are most popular with photography groups and classes, winter offers a greater  opportunity for the most spectacular pictures, the ones that you want to frame. Today we saw elk, deer and eagles down in Ridgway. Snow covered mountains and small wintery scenes are all around.

Bring your camera and maybe your snow shoes and go out exploring.  Let us know what you see.

To help you  out and perhaps get you an extra day or two of vacation , we are now offering The Ouray Victorian Inn Official Excused Absence  as a special service to our guests.

To use, simply print the form shown below, fill it out an present it to your boss, teachers, or other people to whom you made an ill considered commitment.

Name:_________________________ was unable to attend:

_____Work

_____School

_____the meeting

_____Court

because of

_____we were snowed in

_____all flights were grounded

_____the GPS steered me in the wrong direction

_____the garage is waiting on parts

_____the dog ate my car

_____Continental drift made it impossible to get home

_____Other _____________________________

These excuses are authorized by the Ouray Victorian Inn. Please note however the small print:

These excuses are not accepted by most employers, educational institutions, courts or government agencies.  Some employers may require additional proof (ie snow, airline voucher, repair bill, teeth marks on your car, or Post Office change of address form. Apocalypses should require no additional confirmation.

Not available to guests of other hotels or lodging

Not available to employees, staff, or contractors of the Victorian Inn

Upcoming events:

Things you should celebrate this week:

Feb 3 The Day the Music Died - Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash in 1959.

Feb 4 Thank a Mailman Day

Feb 7 Wave All your Fingers at Your Neighbor Day

Of course Feb 14 Valentine’s Day

Unfortunately we all missed National Bubblewrap Day on Jan 30.

Ready for Ice climbing

Seeing the backpacks lined up outside the breakfast room reminds us of elementary   school with all the school bags lined up on the playground.  Fortunately, staying in Ouray is all about recess – playing in the ice and snow with friends.

Chicks with Picks, International Mountain Guides and Southwest Adventure Guides  are all up here this week teaching great ice climbing skills to beginners and advance climbers alike

Everyone is reporting that the ice in the Ice Park is excellent. Come see for yourself.

Other winter news, we’ve had 12 inches  of fresh snow in the past couple days with more on the way.  So for those that find climbing walls of ice a tad crazy – skiing, sledding, snowmobiling, snowcatting, ziplines, ice skating, snowmen and snowball fights are all back on the winter menu.

If you’re lucky, once you’re here,  we might have enough snow for another student favorite – a Snow Day! “Sorry Boss, I’m snowed in and can’t get to work for another day or two.”

When you’ve rediscovered muscles you didn’t know you had,  the Hot Springs Pool is open, along with our hot tubs.

Upcoming events

Valentines Day Special: The Adventures of Rodeo and Juliet  at the Wright Opera House.

Come up for the concert and stay for the night:                                    Concert Package $111.00 plus taxes

Includes: 1 night at the Victorian Inn for two, two tickets for the concert, two passes to the Ouray Hot Springs pool and special discounts at Mouse’s Chocolate and Outlaw Restaurant. Hotel stay includes hot breakfast in the morning.

Ridgway locals, Rodeo and Juliet are a classic American Roots band. Jan and Chris Harris have a smooth timeless sound reminiscent of Patsy Cline and Hank Williams with influences by Bob Dylan, Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris.

Other Valentines Day specials:  Silverton Snowmobiling Tours   February 10-19 2012

A rose for the ladies and your honey rides free

Live Music this weekend in Ouray

Saturday Jan 28, 2012:       North Fork Flyers at O’briens Pub  9:30 pm to 1:00 am

Sunday January 29, 2012  Mountaineer Opera at the Wright Opera House a Night of Lyrical Music

Outside the mountains well covered

The trees dressed in their best snow gowns

The sun a ghostly presence

Thank you for your snow dances.

For you ice climbers, the ice in the Ouray Ice Park is still fabulous and those who like other winter sports, cross country and downhill skiing are back. We also have a great snowmobiling special so come up and enjoy Ouray in the winter.

Upcoming events in Ouray

Mark your calendars:

Valentines Day February 14 Rodeo and Juliet at the Wright Opera House

Mud Fest on April 28.

]]> http://victorianinnouray.com/we-have-snow/feed/ 0 http://victorianinnouray.com/its-time-for-snow/ http://victorianinnouray.com/its-time-for-snow/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:47:28 +0000 janlisk http://victorianinnouray.com/?p=780

It's Ice Time

The Ice season is in full swing and the Ice Fest is now a memory.  There were lots of great moments to remember though. There was the energy and excitement of the competition (won by Nathan Kutcher in the men’s division and Emily Harrington in the women’s division) and the amazing skill of the ice carver who kept going despite the chaos around him to create a fairytale castle, complete with moat, steam train, amid a sea of mountains and other neat stuff.

Ice Park in Ice

There was new gear to examine and try out. There were presentations from climbers who had been in very high places that most people have never heard about (think 20,000 foot peaks in Pakistan), and lots of parties and lots and lots of beer.

But now it is time to think about more than ice climbing, we have downhill skiing and snowmobiling, we have cross country skiing and snowshoeing. What we do not have is snow.

We need snow. Lots of snow.

We need it so non-ice climbers have something to do in winter. We need it so the mountains can continue to look gorgeous. We need it so next summer we have enough water in the rivers and reservoirs for drinking, irrigating, and playing.

So Think Snow. Do a Snow Dance, Sing Snow songs.  Have a Snow Fest. 

Snow dance steps from Yahoo Answers

1. Turn your pajamas inside out and put them on.
2. Then gather white beads and a couple pieces of white paper.
3. When that is done, rip up the paper into small pieces.
4. Then turn your music on real loud and dance until you get tired.
5. While you dance, throw the paper and beads around your room. it symbolizes snow.
6. When you are so tired that you can’t dance or throw the paper and beads around any longer. pick up the beads and pieces of paper put them in the under side of your pillow case and go to sleep.
As an option you may yell “Snow” 3 times into your freezer at any point in the dance.

Ready for climbing

Do you know why the Ouray Ice Park is so amazing?  One of our guests posed that question last night while we were chatting about his day on the ice. Several answers popped to mind but I asked him why he thought it was amazing. His response: ‘because Ouray did something that no other town has done, you created a unique place that can attract people from all over the world. Nothing like the Ouray Ice Park exists anywhere else. It is the perfect place to climb ice” 

Now we here in Ouray know that the Ice Park is pretty cool but it was really nice to hear that from a visitor. We talked about all the things that had to come together to make the Ice Park happen, deep gorges, enough water to make the ice, cold weather to keep it icy, a most importantly a town willing to come together to make it happen. Lots of places have deep gorges and lots of places have water and cold nights but Ouray is the only place where a group of citizens, all volunteers, got together to make it happen. They negotiated land and legal agreements with the National Forest Service, private landowners, and the City of Ouray to create the park. They got the water rights and found the money to build a network of pipes and sprayers to create the ice, and observation decks to watch the climbers, and finally created the organization that is in charge to the park. All of this in a location within walking distance of restaurants and hotels.  A pretty amazing accomplishment when you think about it.

Today the Ice Park has
• Open and free climbing facilities available from mid-December to late March
• Fully developed climbing along a 1 mile stretch of the Uncompahgre Gorge, within walking distance of downtown Ouray, Colorado
• 14 distinct climbing areas: South Park, New Funtier, Grad School, School Room, Alcove, Kid’s Climbing Wall, Upper Bridge, Lower Bridge, Scottish Gullies, Five Fingers, Stump Wall, Shithouse Wall, and Gazebo Wall
• More than 200 ice and mixed climbs, from beginner to expert, included in more than 3 miles of vertical terrain
• Dozens of fixed anchors and access points throughout the Park

Come visit,  come climb, come stay. The Ice Park is open and the 2012 Ice Fest begins this weekend.

Ice climbers still love The Vic

Ice Climber Friendly Lodging

Coming to Ouray to ice climb and need to ship your ice gear early?  Concerned about where to dry and store all your wet gear while you’re here?  The Ouray Victorian Inn can receive your gear, has “ice climber friendly” rooms and caters to ice climbers in a variety of other ways. Come stay at the place where ice climbing in Ouray all started and the hotel closest to the Ouray Ice Park entrance. “The Vic” is a small family run hotel, where you will be welcomed as guests and treated like family.  Check out a few of the ways we cater to the ice climbing community here at The Vic:

1. In-room hooks for hanging clothes or towels
2. Rag basket (named Raggie) in each room for cleaning or drying gear
3. Gear drying towels on request
4. Concierge services for washing or drying clothes (for fee)
5. Tools available on request for gear repair
6. Receive and store advance shipments of gear
7. Sunroom for informal meetings and slide presentations or dinners
8. Hot water each morning to fill a thermos for those cold mornings in the park
9. Closest access to the ice park (Box Canyon lodge not withstanding)

Ice Park members receive a 20% discount from rack rate on your room at the Victorian Inn during the ice season  only. Check out our specials page for more information. Here are some additional links if you want to check the Ouray weather or ice climbing conditions.