Trailhead: Box Canyon
Difficulty: WI 2 to M9
Filed Under: Climbing
Located in the Uncompahgre Gorge in Ouray, Colorado, the Ouray Ice Park was opened in 1995 as the world's first park devoted exclusively to the sport of ice climbing. Climbing in the park is free.
The Ouray Ice Park was built entirely by an enthusiastic volunteer work force as well as donated materials and capital. Ouray Ice Park, Inc. (OIPI) was formed in January of 1997 in order to provide some formal organization to what had previously been a loosely organized grassroots effort. OIPI is a nonprofit corporation that includes nine volunteer board members who are considerably skilled at ditch-digging and plumbing systems. The Ouray Ice Park as we know it today is a shining example of what a volunteer organization can accomplish with little capital but a lot of enthusiasm and vision. OIPI has continued to improve and expand the Ice Park each year through memberships, corporate sponsorships, and funds raised by the annual Ouray Ice Festival.
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 being the premier gathering of its kind, with familiar faces returning annually to climb, socialize, test out the latest equipment, or watch the pro's try to scratch their way up the latest competition rout
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