This Small Town Ice Climbing Festival Is The Best Way To Spend A Winter Weekend In Colorado

If you're looking for something fun and exciting and different to do this January, you should head out to Ouray to check out the Ouray Ice Climbing Festival from January 18th to 21st. This is the 29th year of this annual event at the Ouray Ice Park and people come from all over the world to attend it. You can immerse yourself in clinics to try ice climbing yourself, or you can stay safely on the ground while you attend presentations by some of the world's best climbers and watch movies about this exciting sport. Read on to learn more!

Ouray, Colorado is a small but beautiful town with a year-round population of just over 900 residents.

However, every January, people come from all over the world to visit it and to attend the Ouray Ice Climbing Festival.

This interesting event is organized by Ouray Ice Park.

This park is the largest man-made, public ice climbing park in the world. It first opened in 1994.

This is a great place to learn the sport of ice climbing and to meet other ice climbing enthusiasts. You can visit the Ouray Ice Park anytime, but there's no better time to do both of those things than during the Ice Climbing Festival.

Use of the park is free, so the Ice Climbing Festival serves as a fundraiser to keep it that way.

During the festival, you can attend an ice climbing clinic, wander the vendor village and demo gear from outdoor brands, and watch the mixed climbing competition.

Every evening, there are speakers, presentations, and movies about ice climbing to enjoy.

On Saturday night of the festival, there's also a huge dance party!

All of the money made during this festival goes to support the Ouray Ice Park over the coming year. Attending is the best way to support this amazing place.

Whether you're already an accomplished ice climber or are simple ice climbing-curious, you're going to love this special event in Ouray. The Ouray Ice Climbing Festival is a lively event and you're sure to learn a lot, all while meeting cool people, and supporting a great non-profit. Bundle up and have fun!

You'll want to makes sure you have the best winter clothing for this event! Check out REI's Winter Clothing section for everything that you'll need.