Front Range Ice Park

So I was thinking that there has to be a town here along the Front Range that could benefit from having an ice park much like that of Ouray and Lake City. I'd really love to have accessible ice without having to drive 7 hours and I'm sure there's a ton of money to be made if one of these old mining towns could see the light. Does anyone know of a similar canyon to Uncompahgre Gorge around here where if approved, could have water pumped over it to make ice?

If you could just get the temps low enough. . .

Idaho Springs. There already is a North Facing water fall that ices up most of the winter. A few years ago there was talk of creating an ice park there by spreading the water along that cliff. REI was even sponsoring it. Saddly it either got shot down or the idea lost funding. Not sure why it died.

It wouldn't be as large as Ouray, but I doubt any place along the front range has that ideal set-up.

Will Butler wrote:So I was thinking that there has to be a town here along the Front Range that could benefit from having an ice park much like that of Ouray and Lake City. I'd really love to have accessible ice without having to drive 7 hours and I'm sure there's a ton of money to be made if one of these old mining towns could see the light. Does anyone know of a similar canyon to Uncompahgre Gorge around here where if approved, could have water pumped over it to make ice?

haha...it's called Boulder Canyon. Lord knows why that hasn't worked out.

I did see the proposal / study written on it previously, but it was looonnng.

There's that cool cliff 5 feet from I-70. Could be some liability issues, I suppose.

Brad White wrote:There's that cool cliff 5 feet from I-70. Could be some liability issues, I suppose.

Theres a couple spots on I-70 that explicity say "no climbing". Sure parking would be an issue, but all the yay-hoo's from TX (no offense) would crash into each other watching me crush WI7.

That horse has already been beat to death many times

if you could somehow talk canon city into it, think how badass the royal gorge could be. it has a huge north facing aspect and could have big routes with a large range of difficulty.

think about it... long epic heinousness on saturday, pulling pockets at shelf on sunday...

Jim Amidon wrote:That horse has already been beat to death many times

Did you try using an ice tool?

Even though it's not on the Front Range, what about draining Blue Mesa Reservior over the edge of the Black Canyon. That would be an ice park. Plus the rock there is chossy anyway so a few dings from ice tools wouldn;'t be noticed.

Jim Amidon wrote:That horse has already been beat to death many times

It seems like a real conversation hasn't taken place since Ouray became a model of how ice climbing can become economic engine for sleepy winter towns. Any potential walls that might be accessed in Estes Park, Nederland, Winter Park, Leadville, Breckenridge, Grandby, Dillon, Salida, ect.?

Oh and Slim, the Royal Gorge would be epic!

There are lots of potential walls but not much water or rights to the water.

slim wrote:if you could somehow talk canon city into it, think how badass the royal gorge could be. it has a huge north facing aspect and could have big routes with a large range of difficulty. think about it... long epic heinousness on saturday, pulling pockets at shelf on sunday...

My second thought is Kayaker killed by falling ice.

Actually maybe some of the ft range locals who worked with Jeff Lowe in Utah have some ideas.

Jay Eggleston wrote:There are lots of potential walls but not much water or rights to the water.

That's great. I guess what I'm looking for is to identify those walls. We can figure out water rights at that point.

A long ways back, like 1997 or so, there was a fledgling climber group (BICC) that got blocked by negotiations with Public Service, National Forest Service, and maybe Open Space. There was some momentum, but issues bigger than Boulder Canyon cropped up. Plus, we climbers not getting along didn't help. It was ice vs. rock. Soloists vs groups. Picks vs. skulls. Ugh. More recently, I think Jack Roberts may be involved in working on something up in Boulder Canyon. You might see what he's managed to get done. It's tough because there are so many landowners involved in the complicated patchwork of land plus the water rights are sticky with Public Service owning the aqueduct. I think I heard that liability issues and potential water wheel damage were big hurdles in Idaho Springs. Nonetheless, it would be terrific to have an ice park of sorts. There once was some potential along US 36 uphill from Lyons, but I'm not sure land issues were ever sorted out.