Sunday, festival visitors to the Ouray Ice Park had a chance to compete in the second annual Redfeather Snowshoe Race and win prizes during The North Face ice axe throwing competition. The more daring took off their shoes to challenge themselves on the slackline.
“(Snowshoe racing) is something totally different than ice climbing,” said Eric Barnard, snowshoe race coordinator. Barnard, from Pocatello, Idaho, works for the snowshoe company Redfeather. Two years ago, he was asked to explore different events for the company to sponsor.
  
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An ice climber himself, he said many participants use snowshoes to get to remote areas to climb, so it only made sense to add the event to the festival. He said the race also provided an opportunity for an aerobic workout, since climbing is mostly anaerobic.
Thirty three people strapped on their snowshoes Sunday around noon to compete in the two-plus miles, winner-take-all race.
Though nobody wanted to be timed, everyone still pushed to come in first. The first-place winners in the men’s and women’s divisions were rewarded with a pair of Redfeather racing snowshoes.
The first to come in was Rudy McEntire from Boulder, Colo. Grand Junction resident James Mauch garnered second place.
Mauch was visiting the festival when he found out about the race.
“The course was fun. I’ve never done a lot of up and down — it was hard,” he said, out of breath. “I think I’ll do (the race) next year.”
As one man nose-dived over the finish line, Barnard said he hopes to add a “best finish” prize to next year’s event as an incentive to push racers those last few snowy downhill steps to the finish.
The women’s first-place winner was Westminster, Colo. resident Karla Lipp, a first-year competitor, but second-year festival attendee.
As the snowshoers trailed in, others were taking their aggressions out at the ice axe throwing competition.
The axe competition was held for several hours Saturday and Sunday. Preliminary winners received different North Face items such as gloves and hats, while the winners of the finals walked away with a North Face tent, said coordinator Jimmy Hopper of Oakland, Calif.
Participants had only two tries to throw an axe at a target. In the final round, competitors had three chances, with only the two best throws counting.
Still other festival participants were taking on an even more daring adventure — the slackline.
Suspended about 100 feet over the ice park’s deep ravine, people tested their balance and nerve on a highline.
“The key (to the highline) is practice, and then it’s a certain level of determination,” event coordinator Damian Cooksey said.
Cooksey has been enjoying the sport for more than three years and holds a lowline record of 506 feet (across). He said highlining is growing in popularity.
“It’s the increase challenge. The next level is doing a highline,” he said.
Though a lowline may be extended across a wide area, it is usually only a few feet off the ground, he explained. A highline is more of a challenge.
“Anything that looks like a nice gap between rocks” makes for a good highline spot, he said. “It’s just the mental challenge of walking with exposure all around.”
Many of the participants were first timers. With their shoes off, they attempted to walk across the suspended slackline, falling and swinging along the way.
“I tried to concentrate on balance,” said first-time participant Dan Mottinger. “I looked down once and thought, ‘That is a long ways down.’”
The event, along with many others, was a crowd pleaser. As Sunday events and the ice festival concluded, visitors watched and cheered not only for the ice climbers, but also for the snowshoers, axe throwers and slackline walkers.
Contact Kati O’Hare via e-mail at katio@montrosepress.com
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