STAFF
Ouray Ice Park, Inc. works hard to make your experience at our park one to remember!
Ice Farmers
TIM FOULKES
Ice Farmer
Tim first learned how to ice climb in Ouray during a college class while attending Western State College in 1999. From then on, he was hooked.
Since 2000, Tim has worked with youth and young adults through a variety of conversation corps programs. In 2014, Tim began working as a Trail Crew Leader with U.S. Forest Service based out of Durango, CO. Tim only worked seasonally so he could spend his six months off living in his camper and ice climbing.
Outside of winter, Tim is also an avid rock climber, mountain biker, and distance runner. Since 2019, he has had gainful employment in one of his favorite places on Earth as an Ice Farmer!
SARAH GOODNOW
Ice Farmer
Sarah was born and raised in New Hampshire. She started ice climbing back in New Hampshire, but mainly on days when snow in the backcountry was hard and shiny and the ski conditions were loud and fast (read: icy). She spent five winters as the caretaker of a backcountry camping area in Tuckerman Ravine before moving out west.
In the summer she travels around on a Forest Service hotshot crew based in central Washington. In a former life she got a bachelor's degree in chemistry, but these days she’d rather work with her hands outdoors than use her brain indoors.
Sarah began working as a Ranger in 2020 and transitioned to the Farming crew in 2021.
JASON WATKINS
Ice Farmer
Jason was born on a ranch in Florida, into a family of electricians! He started ranch work at an early age, and quickly got into electrician and construction work. Jason went off to school in Texas, and after graduating has been traveling all over the country ever since working various jobs.
Jason wound up in Ouray a few years ago, and began volunteering for the Park in 2019. Jason was hired full-time as a Ranger in 2020, and transitioned to the Farming crew in 2021.
LANDON NURGE
Ice Farmer
Landon was born and raised in Ketchum, Idaho where he grew up hiking, biking and skiing. After high school, he moved to Boulder, Colorado to attend CU Boulder. He graduated four years later with a degree in aerospace engineering. He spent most of his time in college recreating in the mountains where he was first introduced to ice climbing. His passion for ice climbing led him to McCarthy, Alaska where he would spend his summers working as a guide in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. In 2023 he moved to Ouray and will join the Ice Park as an Ice Farmer.
Rangers
ALLY BLOOM
Ranger
Ally was born in Indianapolis, IN and moved out to Fort Collins in 2016. She discovered her love for the outdoors through the Outdoor Program at Colorado State University, where she spent two seasons leading trips to the Ouray Ice Park!
After graduating, Ally worked at the Front Range Community College as an Outdoor Recreation Adjunct Instructor. She eventually made her way down to Ouray to guide in the Ice Park, where her passion for ice climbing transitioned into a job as a Ranger in 2021.
ZOE ZARKO
Ranger
Zoe was born in Durango Colorado, and spent her childhood running the rivers of the Southwest and exploring the peaks of the San Juans. Raised by two avid outdoorsmen, she began climbing rock at a young age, and fell in love with Ice Climbing during a class with Colorado Mountain College, where she began pursuing a degree in outdoor education.
She has been involved in Trail work and maintenance with Copper Mountain and the Southwest Conservation Corps.
When not climbing, she can be found foraging in the woods, collecting interesting rocks, cooking around a campfire, or practicing at the archery range. This will be Zoe’s first season as a Ranger.
MATTHEW DURHAM Ranger
Matthew first climbed ice when he was 19, going out on trips in the Midwest to states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, and in his home state of Michigan.
Over the last few years, he’s worked as a single pitch instructor in the red river gorge while he pursues a degree in earth science education. In his off seasons from the red, he’s spent his winters climbing ice in ouray.
During this time, he developed a love and appreciation for the park and is looking forward to taking an active role in the community this winter as a Ranger.
MATT BOONE
Ranger
Matt hails from Durham, NC. He’s a lifelong Hokie with familial roots running through the Blue Ridge Mountains of SW Virginia - just as he ran through them. A sportsman for sure, Matt has given a go to a plethora of traditional and not-so-traditional sports, namely rugby - for nearly 13 years.
He’s always had a fascination with mountains, and he quit a fledgling IT career in July 2020, bought a one way ticket to Colorado, then hiked from Denver to Durango. It was a life changing experience.
Climbing found Matt in the La Sal outside of Moab thereafter, and in summer ‘21 set up shop in Denver. The ice was already looking. It inevitably found him in Ouray, and a couple years on Matt feels fortunate and grateful to call this community in the San Juans his home. This will be his first season as a Ranger.
Administrative Team
PETER O’NEIL
Executive Director
Peter was first introduced to the San Juan mountains on a 30-day ski mountaineering course with Colorado Outward Bound School (COBS) back in January of 1974 — so, just a few short years ago. Ever since, the transformational power of the outdoors has been a driving force in Peter's life.
Over the past 30+ years, Peter has had many great successes, from graduating Stanford with an MBA to leading several different companies and nonprofit organizations to new heights. After almost 8 years as the Executive Director at COBS, and 11 years as field staff, Peter and his partner Kim moved back down to the San Juans, and joined our team at the Ouray Ice Park in 2020.
Like COBS, the Ouray Ice Park represents a wonderful opportunity to continue to change lives through challenge and discovery, as climbers discover that there is more in them than they know. At COBS he was committed to serving a broad cross-section of students and making the transformational power of the outdoors inclusive, and accessible to all — an aspiration he has for the Ice Park as well.
BAYLEY WOOD
Marketing Director
Born in Texas and raised in Virginia, Bayley was an avid skier by the age of 8. After 20 years of traveling to the Rockies from Virginia every winter, she finally moved to Colorado in 2017 to pursue her love of the outdoors.
After spending her first summer in the Front Range learning how to climb, she left her then decade-long career in the fashion industry and went to work for outdoor non-profits, including Paradox Sports and NOLS Alaska.
Bayley was hired as our Administrative Coordinator back in 2019, and became our Marketing Director in 2021. She directs all marketing and events for the Ice Park, including our annual Ouray Ice Festival.
CHRISTINA LUJAN
Office Manager & Event Coordinator
Christina Lujan is no stranger to Ouray! Born and raised in the area, her mom’s side of the family migrated over from Ireland in the 1800s. They had a dry clean and dry goods store as well as a mine. Her father’s side is Native American, and has lived on the Western Slope for many generations.
After high school, Christina ventured outside of Colorado and joined the Navy. After traveling the world and working on ships, Christina went into the corporate world, but always wanted to come back home.
Christina has been back in Ouray for a few years now, running operations for various hotels. She has always had a passion for the outdoors though, and a great love for the Ice Park long before she started climbing in it. We were incredibly lucky to have her join our team in 2021 as our Office Manager as well as our Event Coordinator for All In Ice Fest and the annual Ouray Ice Festival!
COREY GERA
Operations Manager
Born and raised in Glenwood Springs, Corey is a Colorado native. She grew up exploring the mountains of her hometown and after she graduated, she moved on to exploring mountains further away.
Corey has spent the last eight years traveling, working, and playing as much as possible. Her travels have taken her all over the U.S. as well as internationally. Some of her favorite spots are South East Alaska, Oregon, and New Zealand.
After landing in Ouray for a summer of guiding in 2021, Corey decided to stay put for a while and spend the winter here too as a Ranger. In 2023, Corey was promoted to Operations Manager.
for open positions, please Check out our
Careers page.
Ouray Ice Park, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Your gender, religion, sex life, skin color, first language, and size and ability of your body do not factor into employment decisions here. Neither do your friends in high places. If you love our mission and are good at what you do, come as you are.