Ouray Ice Park, CO

The model estimates whether ice has formed. Ice quality and bonding are not observable from weather data and are not modelled. How the model works.

The park makes this ice

Ouray Ice Park is farmed: an operator runs water overnight and decides what exists in the morning. Whether ice is there is their answer, not this site’s, and their conditions page is the thing to read.

Reported by Ouray Ice Park

The park’s own status for its areas, not this site’s. Read at 02:26 UTC; it changes through the day, so their page is the one to trust.

0 open anchors, counted by the park rangers.

Alcove/Pic of the Vic area to the Upper Bridge Closed
Between the Bridges Closed
Deep South Closed
Five Fingers area Closed
Gazebo Wall Closed
Graduate School Closed
Kiddie Wall Closed
Lead Area Closed
New Funtier Closed
Outhouse Wall (aka Shithouse Wall) Closed
School Room Closed
Scottish Gullies Closed
South Park Closed
Stump Wall Closed
Two Eyed Dog Closed

Full conditions report from the park

155 routes across 15 areas. None has a confirmed position, so they are listed here without a model estimate.

Cold so far

0 freezing degree-days since 1 October

No day has averaged below freezing yet. 6 of the last 15 seasons had banked some cold by this date.

Each day that averages below 0 °C adds how far below: a day averaging −5 °C adds 5. Warm days are not subtracted, so a thaw that strips ice does not show here. Modelled at the climbs' typical elevation, not measured on them. It is not a prediction: early cold on its own has not predicted when ice arrives in the seasons this project has records for. Every season is measured over the same window, 1–25 October.

Access is yours to check

This site says nothing about whether you may reach or climb these routes. That is decided by whoever manages the land — a park, a forest, a city, a tribe, a private owner — and by permits, seasonal and wildlife closures and local law, all of which change. A route listed here is not a route you are allowed to climb, and a route with no restriction noted here may still be closed. Check with the land manager before you go.

Ice festival

Ouray Ice Festival — late January

The people who actually know this venue, once a year in one place.

Guidebook

Suffer Candy Volume 1: Ice Climbing in Ouray, Telluride, and Silverton by Jason Nelson

Route positions are in the guidebook and not on this site. The author walked the terrain and verified the lines; that work is theirs to sell.