The half-bare walls of the Uncompahgre Gorge tell a story Peter O’Neil wanted no part of — one of 50-degree December days and out-of-work rangers and ice farmers scrambling to find other sources of income.

The Ouray Ice Park, a fixture of winter recreation and tourism in Ouray, has been unable to open this winter because unseasonably warm temperatures have prevented the park’s employees from creating ice cliffs sufficient for climbing. There’s no indication when it will open, but when it does, it will be the latest opening in its 32-year history.

That leaves O’Neil, the park’s executive director who oversaw operations at the Ice Park during the pandemic six years ago, to wrestle with another challenge beyond his control. The fifth annual All In Ice Fest, slated for this weekend, and the 31st annual Ouray Ice Festival, slated for Jan. 22-25, will go on as scheduled, just without their main ingredient: ice.

O’Neil said the park is reworking the Ice Festival, the park’s signature international event that serves as its largest annual fundraiser, as an “iceless festival.”

State of the park

The park looks much like it did in early November, according to O’Neil.

“We had more ice at Thanksgiving than we have right now, so that’s very stressful,” he said.

The park’s four rangers are currently out of work. Its ice farmers are on call throughout the night if temperatures drop low enough to strap on headlamps, turn on taps and drench the rock faces to form sheets of ice. Farmers typically shut off flows by morning to prevent warm water from eroding the ice that has formed, creating unsafe climbing conditions. They don’t farm ice if it’s raining for the same reason.

“It’s a really delicate balance right now, and everyone is on edge,” O’Neil said.

He said the park’s closure hurts the local economy. A study completed four years ago found that the ice park’s three-month season typically generates about $18 million for the community.

“We’re not open. That’s not happening right now. So, I mean, everyone is impacted by what’s happening, so we’re trying to do our best, to do what we can, to still encourage people to come,” O’Neil said.

A storm system that moved in Wednesday night was expected to bring snow and, more importantly for the ice park, temperatures that could drop into the teens and 20s at night, the threshold necessary for making ice.

That dose of snow and cold, however, isn’t enough to solidify a potential opening date. O’Neil said if the park can open for the Jan. 22-25 Ice Festival, it will. But he acknowledged the uncertainty of opening is a sore point for park employees.

State of the festivals

The All In Ice Fest has championed climbers from marginalized communities for the last four years. The festival is still happening this weekend, but the event won’t hold any clinics on ice in the park.

Attendees registered for ice climbing clinics in the park can request a refund, donate registration fees to the park or transfer them to alternative clinics.

The same goes for the Ice Festival. O’Neil said park staff are working hard to ensure the show can go on, though it will look different from years past.

“This is a huge part of what the community is, and we’re not going to walk away from our community,” O’Neil said.

The festival’s non-ice-climbing events will proceed as scheduled. Sometime next week, the park will update its website to launch a new set of clinics as alternatives to ice climbing within the park.

Registered participants can transfer their registration fees to the new clinics. Alternatively, they can opt for a full refund or donate to the park.

O’Neil said his team, some Ouray Ice Fest sponsors and all six local commercial guiding companies are working to provide alternatives to ice climbing in the park, such as backcountry ice climbing, dry-tooling clinics or avalanche courses. He said he’s visited with city Parks and Recreation Director Joe Brown about trying to figure out a way to open the Ouray Via Ferrata, which is normally open May through October.

“I have no doubt that whoever I ask will step up, because that is what Ouray has done for the Ice Park,” he said during Monday night’s city council meeting.

Scheduled films, fireside chats and evening parties will happen as planned. The annual kickoff pool party at the Twin Peaks Lodge & Hot Springs on Thursday night, Jan. 22, will also feature a new spectacle in collaboration with the city: a drone show at 8 p.m. The drones will launch by the Baby Bathtubs trailhead and be visible against the backdrop of the Amphitheater Campground. The show is part of a statewide series of drone shows celebrating Colorado’s 150th anniversary.

And most importantly for the professional climbers, the festival’s annual Saturday competition is still on. The key difference will be the composition of the competition route, which is always secret, but can now include only rock and dry-tooling sections. Usually, the route also features an ice-climbing section.

O’Neil said the festival typically draws several thousand attendees each year, though it’s unclear what will happen this year. Around 20% of clinics were sold out as of last week, but sales have plateaued while the park remains closed.

Water availability

O’Neil said the park’s inability to open is not due to lack of water for farming ice, but warm overnight temperatures prohibiting the ice from forming.

But although climate is standing in the way of ice production, O’Neil noted that with more water, ice farmers produce larger quantities and more durable ice during cold spells.

“When we have cold temperatures, the more water we have, the better,” O’Neil said.

The park has been working to secure more water to fuel its operations since 2019. Right now, the park relies on overflow from the city of Ouray’s water storage tanks, which caps usage at about 350 gallons a minute.

The park crafted a $1.4 million plan to secure additional water from Canyon Creek but hasn’t been able to complete it because of a $200,000 funding shortfall. That money is needed to put together a wet well for storing water from Canyon Creek.

That deficit hasn’t budged since last season, according to O’Neil, and construction may remain in limbo, as Ice Fest typically serves as the park’s biggest fundraising event.

The park also needs to complete electrical work for the project, which it was unable to do last fall, and hopes to complete this spring.