Peak Mountain Guides’ ice climbing in the Ouray Ice Park is the most accessible and highest quality ice in North America! With hundreds of ice climbs of varying difficulty, this is a world-class destination. The Ice Park’s man-made climbs are intricately “farmed” to create a one-of-a-kind venue.
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Ouray ice climbing festival
The Ouray Ice Festival is an annual event held in the small mountain town of Ouray, Colorado, in the San Juan Mountains of western Colorado.
Climbing, surfing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, and other sports The Ouray Ice Festival lasts three days and four nights. People flock to this beautiful gorge in the San Juan Mountains of western Colorado during this time of year.
The Ouray Ice Park, on the other hand, is open from December to March and is free to ice climbers.
The Uncompahgre Gorge is fed with water, which then freezes along the canyon walls, forming an amazing and beautiful layer of ice throughout the canyon. If the canyon walls were stacked, the entire park would have over 3 miles of vertical climbs!
Ice suitable for climbing must be created along the Gorge’s walls. Ice farmers use special techniques to grow the ice in the park for the Ouray Ice Festival. First, they soak the walls in water to cool them and create a base layer for the ice to adhere to. Then they spray water with various showerheads to grow the ice. Ice farmers spray different sizes of water droplets to provide different amounts of water to different areas. This causes the ice to grow and creates various climbs throughout the Ouray Ice Park. The climbs are designed to be easier in some areas and more difficult in others to provide an ice climbing experience for people of all skill levels.
Ouray ice climbing guides
Ice Park days are frequently combined with a day of backcountry ice climbing to give you a sense of what this area has to offer.
Full-Day Ice Climbing
The majority of participants will climb 4-7 routes during the full-day program, and no prior climbing experience is required. As part of a private program, the guide will assess your current skill level and work with you to improve your technique so that you can have more fun on the ice. It can teach you how to climb steep ice, deal with overhangs, find rests, and do basic mixed climbing. It also allows you to hone your skills in anchor construction, top-rope set up, lead climbing, and multi-pitch climbing systems. Throughout the day, you’ll be climbing in a variety of areas throughout the park, sampling the best climbing Colorado has to offer!
Half-Day Ice Climbing
A half-day guided ice climbing program for beginners will give you a taste of ice climbing in the world-renowned Ouray Ice Park. You will learn to swing ice tools, kick crampons, and climb an ice wall! During the half-day program, most participants will climb 2-4 routes. This program is designed for beginners, and no prior experience is required.
Ice Climbing Courses
Ouray’s course progression is based on a simple principle: provide participants with the skills they need to go out on their own. The professionals have spent countless hours developing our ice climbing curriculum. Each course has specific objectives and is designed as part of a series to avoid omitting concepts and topics.
Ice climbing gear rental Ouray
San Juan Mountain Guides can provide you or your group with the majority of the equipment required to ice climb, ski, or via Ferrata in the Ouray area and the San Juan Mountains. They carry the most recent gear from companies such as Petzl, Ortovox, Wagner, La Sportiva, and others.
They have both – summer and winter gear rentals. The rental equipment is designed specifically for use via Ferrata. To rent equipment, you must weigh more than 88 pounds but less than 265 pounds. Due to the technical nature of the via Ferratas in our area, we do not rent to people who have never climbed before.
