STUCK!!! 7:30 PM....in Vail??....

Last night was our final ceremony, Kim gave an awesome speech & the guides spoke about each of the girls in their group, then each girl gave a short speech about what they got out of the clinic... it was really emotional and inspiring, I felt like I had made 30 friends in 3 days! I tried SO hard not to cry but of course I couldn't help it! I swear my voice went up 12 octaves as soon as the tears broke through!! It always starts a chain reaction (hello, 30 exhausted women in one room?!) We took some photos, I received positive climbing feedback, I talked with Margo Talbot, she stays up on politics and knows so much about current affairs, and she's an amazing, experienced climber?! Way cool, she does expeditions to Antarctica and runs glitter-girls.ca too! Wow... We got along well, she told me if I really want to climb ice, I'll climb rocks when I can and work out when I can't climb, stay motivated and not let the unbelievers bring me down; somehow she gave me a month's worth of motivation in two sentences!! All of the guides at the clinic were inspirational in their own ways, Caroline is seriously badass, she's climbed her whole life and it shows, she's an amazing climber, and she's really accomodating and funny. She knows so much about climbing and she's living the dream; she kicked my ass to finish that last climb, she was the best guide we could have had! Danika Gilbert is also an awesome climber and guide, she walked in on the first day with a smile and it never left her face! Kitty Calhoun was so modest, completely present and more interested in our comparatively boring lives at dinner than telling us about her own! Her experience and extremely contagious laugh were so inspiring to me, she was so cool! Sarah Huenekin was so Canadian, it was great. We talked at dinner on the second night, she started out climbing ice just like me and now she's super buff and one of the best climbers around! The realization that she's just a normal girl who's not afraid and she teaches now and does really badass stuff was motivating to me. If she can do it, I totally can too! Rad... And of course, Kim Reynolds who makes it all possible. I could write an entire magazine on this woman, she runs so many foundations and motivational clinics for women, she has changed so many lives for the better the world round. She's such a gifted, graceful climber... she scaled a route that took me 20 minutes, in 2... enough said! She was funny, present, aware, beautiful and so incredibly strong, I wish every woman I know could meet her, they would take away inspiration and skills to take control of their lives and be the women they're meant to be within one hour of talking to her! The scholarship I received was in honor of Karen McNeill, whom I have never met but have heard much about. She was a woman who inspired those she met to find the confidence and power present in them, an aptly task if there ever was one. Karen accomplished impossible feats on the high mountains and in herself and the women she met. And she did it with glitter on her face!! I wish I could have met her but the women I did meet all display some aspect of her, some aspect of me and many of themselves that will motivate me to get through the easy and difficult days to come.

We all went out to dinner after the ceremony, Tracey had...enough...tequila and offered me her crampons, but I knew if I had taken them I would have had to mail them back (dammit!) I guess when it comes down to it, you can't climb ice without crampons, but you can't come out of a funk without friends... hopefully soon I will be lucky enough to have lots of both!!!

I ended up taking moonlit walks every night, by myself or with friends, it was beautiful, the stars, cliffs, moon, the design of the clouds, steam from the hot springs, deer tracks leading me back to the hotel. We left at 9:30 this morning following dire storm warnings from Heidi's husband. I was quiet on the drive, watching the mountains and weather fly by at 80 miles an hour. We dropped Caroline in montrose and headed up to Vail. Courtney was going to stay a night at her friend's parents condo and ski the next day. We dropped her off in the midst of worsening weather only to drive back to find I-70 had closed two minutes ago!!!!! because of weather, avalanches and fatal accidents.... We turned right around and went back to the condo, the snow was falling hard and fast, the wind had picked up enough to sway the car left and right. When we arrived, we learned Courtney's friend Carrie's parents co-owned the place and it was not their weekend...shit... the weekend owners were unaware of our presence and presumed to be uninviting...

At 5:30 Heidi and I went to the market, we had to shovel 2 feet of snow from around her car (that fell in 2 hours?!) so we could move it. During the process a guy with his 2 teenage kids pulled up in a van and asked if we were staying in the condo.....'um, are YOU staying here??' We thought he was the owner but it turns out they were in the same predicament as us, knowing Carrie's parents, trapped in Vail, trying to get to Denver, lucky not to be trapped on (or off) the interstate. Coming back from the market we saw 50 foot diameter snow devils that guided us through the maze that is East Vail, 60 mile an hour winds and another 8 inches of snow!! I have never seen so much snow!!! We also found out I-70 would be closed through the night and possibly ALL DAY tomorrow!!! shit...

The six of us got to talking; the guy's name is Robert Camp, he's a big wall climber, record breaker and international guide, what a strange, universal coincidence!

His kids were surprisingly mature and funny for being 15 and Robert told me some crazy gnarly stories about guiding and climbing; accidents, ascents and awesomeness. The universe has it all planned out, thank goodness we're all safe (but what a strange place to be)...and that I haven't yet bought a return ticket!!


2:30 AM We had just spoken of the weekend owner, hoping he wouldn't show up as it was 11:30 at night... when he walked in the door! He was floored at the sight of 6 unexpected, uninvited strangers in his condo, it took a few minutes to explain and convince, but eventually he allowed us refuge with the condition that he and his buddies could smoke the green demon... (the alternative is sleeping in the car so yes, of course you can smoke whatever you want!). Four guys showed up within a few minutes of each other but two of their friends were stuck on the highway all night! They were all professional doctors, etc who take off every other weekend to ski, board and smoke weed (huh?? this is weird!...where am I again??) The wind picked up outside, displacing the 10 feet of snow leaning on the windows. We turned up the music and they broke out the bong and beers. There was dancing, pictures, and rock n' roll. What else do you need during the Storm of the Century?? I'm staying up all night to watch the CDOT channel and write/draw/miss Daniel. I hope this pass opens! I want to get home so bad...