Marylebone Mountaineering Club Library and Information > Meet Reports

HAPPINESS IS ANOTHER DAY IN OURAY Colorado Ice Climbing 2002 by Mark Krassowski The Colorado Ice Climber's guide say's "Ouray makes one believe God is an ice climber". With that sort of introduction and the apparent guarantee of ice, we were persuaded away from our regular haunt of the French Alps, to make a much longer trip to America. Ouray is in the San Juan mountains, part of the Rockies, and seven hours drive from Denver. The four of us (Steve M, Simon A, Dave P and Mark K) arrived in Ouray on 24 February and set up base in a two storey town home (booked over the Internet from "very truly yours Bill") in the centre of the town, and importantly only a few minutes walk away from the "Ice Park". The ice park is a gorge that runs down the mountain and into Ouray. Rather cunningly, a few years ago the locals (inspired and led by Geoff Lowe) decided to tap thermal mountain spring water and distribute it around the gorge by using a sprinkler system. The sprinklers are turned on at night, when temperatures are well below freezing, and the are angled so that the water has time to cool down before coming into contact with the existing ice or rock. The result is guaranteed ice routes of between 70 - 100 feet in length, stretching for over ¾ mile along the gorge. Guaranteed that is, so long as it stays cold. Cold it certainly was while we there, in fact minus 20 degrees Celsius was recorded in still conditions on one day, and probably colder when the wind got up! The Ice Park provides a good introduction to Colorado ice climbing, as many routes can be top roped (somewhat unusual in ice climbing), and the belayers can bask in sunshine out of the wind. For our first few days this proved useful as we warmed up (no pun intended), practised placing our picks, screwing screws and getting used to dodging massive blocks of falling ice. One of the advantages of the Ice park is that you can climb a number of routes in one day and so numerous routes of Grade 3 & 4 and the occasional 5 were either led or top roped each day, until we could climb no more. The American water ice grading system is similar to the European system, albeit the routes are slightly harder for the same grade. For the unenlightened, a WI 3 route would require crampons and two ice axes, and sections of steep ice would be encountered, including some vertical ice. A WI 5. route generally involves continuously vertical ice and hanging off your tools while placing gear. Rests are rare! Ice climbing is not restricted to the Ice Park though, the surrounding mountains providing plenty of multi-pitch routes of all difficulties, most with shortish walk-ins. Steve and Mark were the first to venture out of the Park, climbing the Grade 5+ Over the Rainbow early in the week. The route contained several pitches including a desperate 90 degrees 40 metre high chandelier, with little protection, led by Cowboy Steve. Later in the week, Mark and Dave climbed the 3 -star classic Grade 4, Horsetail Falls, a 4 pitch continuous lump of ice visible from the aptly named Million-Dollar Highway, where, if you are lucky, passing cars stop and the passengers cheer! Another popular area we visited was the Skylight Area, where Simon and Dave both led their first Grade 4, Slip Sliding Away. Steve led a harder version (Grade 5) of Slippery When Wet and Mark led the Grade 5 route Choppo's Chimney. In between ice climbing we rested by getting into trouble with the local traffic Cops, the violations varying from parallel parking (Dave), to stopping on a highway (Steve) and speeding in a built-up area (Simon). The latter offence nearly putting an end to the day before it had even started as the policeman threatened to impound the hire car (and warned Simon "and I done wana hear a word from you", before Simon could even admit his guilt.) We also relaxed in the thermal Hot Springs at the end of a hard day chipping, where bathing costumes and Cowgirls were optional. For some reason we visited the Hot Springs almost every day! At the end of the trip, we ventured further afield to Telluride (to hell you ride), a ski resort where the famous classic hard piece Bridalveil Falls (Grade 5+) is located. The route is truly awesome and looks like a series of splattered cauliflowers on the cliffside. From afar (it's over an hours walk-in) the route looks very tempting, but as you round the corner of the trail and see it up close for the first time, impressions change and the word f**k jumps out! Cowboy Steve made two attempts at the route, the first time with Simon but they were forced off due to the cold and shortage of time (the route can take 6-8 hours). The second was with Mark, but despite a much earlier start the cold was just too much to even get geared up. Not all was lost however, as back at the Ice Park there were plenty of other ice routes to do! A fantastic trip and worth a return visit, despite Steve's frostbite diagnosed on return to the UK. It puts into context the now immortal comment to Steve from a local female climber - "and I thought it was only girls who got hot hands..."