Ice Climbing is a sport that has been growing quickly in Colorado in recent years. As the name suggests, Ice Climbing is a sport in which players ascend inclined ice formations. Colorado, being a magnet for snow and ice during this time of the year, is a great place for impressive ice features. These include icefalls, frozen waterfalls, and cliffs and rock slabs covered with ice refrozen from flows of water. As far as the sport is concerned, ice can be broadly split into two categories, alpine ice and water ice. Alpine ice is any ice formation found in the mountains. Water ice is usually found on a cliff or other outcropping beneath water flows. Alpine ice is frozen precipitation whereas water ice is a frozen liquid flow of water.
The Annual Ouray Ice Festival
Do you think you have what it takes to be beat the best ice climbers? Find out at the annual Ouray Ice Festival. This event transforms the town of Ouray into an ice climbing paradise. People from all around the world gather here to celebrate the growing sport of ice climbing. The festival includes clinics, vendor exhibitions, competitions, evening celebrations, and a lot more. All the money raised at the event goes directly to funding the operational costs of the Ouray Ice Park. This insures that they'll be able to continue to build a world-class ice climbing park every year. This year the festivities will be going on from January 20th to 23rd. For more information on how to attend check out their website as prices vary.
Ice climbing clinics are an important component of the annual Ouray Ice Festival. These are always interactive and educational and are offered to climbers of every skill level. For only $40 per clinic, these are a great way to stay informed and refresh your knowledge for the year especially as new techniques are revealed every year. The clinics are held by great establishments from all over the Centennial state. In fact, four local guiding companies will be hosting clinics during the 2022 Ouray Ice Festival and Competition: San Juan Mountain Guides, Peak Mountain Guides, Skyward Mountaineering, and Basecamp Ouray.
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