Financials

It Costs

The Ouray Ice Park is a free and public ice climbing park located in Ouray, Colorado. It is created and operated by Ouray Ice Park, Inc., a Colorado nonprofit organization and federal 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.

Each winter, we open our gates for over three months to 24,000 climbers from around the world. The park has over 200 ice and mixed climbing routes spanning almost two miles of the Uncompahgre Gorge. In order to create the ice, we use an overflow of excess water from the City of Ouray’s spring-fed supply tank. With a clever layout of irrigation pipe, more than a hundred garden-variety shower heads, and a little knowledge of fluid mechanics, we build the Ice Park over the course of several weeks beginning in November (condition dependent). Learn more about our operations.

Keeping the park free requires us to raise money every year through a combination of donations, memberships, events, and sponsorships. The majority of our funding comes from our largest fundraising event of the year: the annual Ouray Ice Festival and Competition, which takes place every January.