Ice Climbing

Winter Ice Climbing: Offered December-March

Climbing the ephemeral ice of a frozen waterfall is an experience one is likely to never forget. Ice Climbing with Mountain Pro ranges from mild introductory days in the Ouray Ice Park to wild multipitch ice in the the French Alps.

Mountain Pro Ice Destinations

Lake City, CO: Just like Ouray was ten years ago! Located 1.5 hrs south of Crested Butte in the Northern San Juan mountains, the quiet mining town of Lake City offers world class ice climbing without the crowds. Lake City boast several small man made ‘Ice Parks’ as well as many natural climbs ranging from single pitch classics to long multipitch adventures. If you want to explore classic Colorado ice climbing and don’t want to deal with the ‘scene’ in Ouray, Lake City is the place.

While not nearly as famous as the Ice Park in Ouray, Lake city is actually a far better place to learn Ice Climbing basics.

Ouray Ice Park: The world famous Ouray Ice Park is in a truly spectacular seeting in the Uncompahgre Gorge with easy access and endless amounts of ice to climb. The Ouray Ice Park offers hundreds of climbs from beginners to expert all within a five minute walk. This is the ideal place to learn to climb or to improve on your technique climbing steep waterfall ice.The Ouray Ice Park was opened in 1995 as the world’s first ice climbing park.

Climber Focuses in the Ouray Ice Park

Black Canyon of the Gunnison: Located just one hour’s drive from Crested Butte is the adventurous ice of the Black Canyon. The Black has short moderates and long and complex climbs like the ‘Curecanti Monster’. Ice in the black is an incredible wilderness ice adventure that you just cannot experience at an ‘ice park’.

Ice Climbing Courses

Our ice climbing instructional programs are truly custom experiences. Multi-venue and multi-session programs are arranged frequently. Please contact Mountain Pro to discuss a custom Ice Climbing progression.

Top-Rope Ice Climbing: learn how to effectively set up and manage ice climbing sites. This three day progression provides instruction in anchor building, site management and overall risk management for the group leader and/or advanced recreational climber. This course is best suited for the climber who is interested in refining their skill set in order to safely climb with groups of friends on single pitch ice climbs.

Learn to lead climb: learn the basics of the lead climbing sequence as it pertains to waterfall ice climbing. Topics include: protection placement, belay station management, anchor building as well as movement skills for the advanced ice climber.

*Large group instructional courses can be arranged for your college group or outdoor program as per many land management policies.

Guests practice swinging their tools in Lake City

Mike’s introduction to ice progression is designed to give the climber all the tools necessary to succeed on steep waterfall ice. This progression has been refined through many seasons working with novice ice climbers from day climbs to intensive twelve-day courses.

The day starts with an introduction to the equipment including the anatomy of ice tools and crampons. We then spend ample time practicing our footwork while learning more traditional cramponing techniques. After dialing in our footwork it’s time to learn about using our ice tools, before getting on the ropes and refining our efficient ‘tracking’ techniques for the remainder of the day.

Specific goals can be accommodated due to our low ratios everything from steep mixed climbing technique to lead climbing can be arranged.

Contact Mike for more information about Ice Climbing and please visit our Booking page for more information.