OUR STAFF

OG 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!

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.

Ice Farmer

A Ouray native, Steve began volunteering at the Ice Park as early as middle school, and has done so at least for the annual Ice Festival nearly every year since. It was not until taking the Ouray high school outdoor education course a few years later that he climbed ice for the first time.

Following High school, Steve enlisted in the Navy and spent several years overseas, returning home on leave to climb whenever possible. Steve has since moved to Alaska working as a commercial fisherman, carpenter, sawyer, electrician, and any other odd and/or interesting occupation that strikes his fancy whilst spending the majority of his time climbing, skiing, biking, sailing, harvesting wild foods, and generally enjoying all Alaska has to offer.

This year the annual pilgrimage to Ouray marks Steve’s fourth season as an Ice Farmer!

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.

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 second season as a Ranger.

Ranger (Lil Matt)

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 for his second season as a Ranger.

Ranger (Big Matt)

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 second season as a Ranger.