Ouray is the most well-known ice climbing venue in the world due to the existence of the mile-long Ouray Ice park where the international Ouray Ice Festival is held each January. The owners of the Ouray Victorian Inn developed the Ice park beginning with completion of the legal challenges and installation of a simple arrangement of hoses in 1994.
The Ouray Ice Festival, held each Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend in January, is an eclectic gathering of ice climbers, gear manufacturing exhibitors, and ice climbing voyeurs simply thrilled to watch at a safe distance from the precipitous edges. The festival was first held in January of 1996 and is promoted by ice climbing pioneer Jeff Lowe. The festival is now widely recognized as the premier gathering of it's kind. Be sure to watch the pro's try to scratch their way up the latest comp route. Over half of the annual operating capital needed to run the Ouray Ice Park is raised each year by the Ouray Ice Festival and it's corporate sponsors. As the Festival has grown so too has the Ice Park, and the relationship has directly resulted in the fine ice climbing venue that we are all able to enjoy each winter here in Ouray.
There is also an abundance of wilderness ice climbing in areas such as Camp Bird Road and secret stashes throughout the local mountains.
