The town of Ouray, Colo., was established by miners to bring the gold and silver out of the San Juan Mountains in Southwest Colorado. The entire town, named after Chief Ouray of the Ute Indian tribe, is now a historic district with the mining equipment rusting over in the shadows of the steep rock faces. Some shops close their doors till summer business comes around. The Uncompahgre River runs its yellow water in and among the mountain walls. The only paved access to the city is US 550, which runs alongside the river and is nicknamed Million Dollar Highway. The area, which has been dubbed “The Switzerland of America” has something unique to the United States8212;a sprinkler system that runs in the winter. Instead of precious metal, the town now mines ice.
How it all started is left to rumor. There were once icefalls in a box canyon just past town limits. Some climbers followed the falls to their source, a decaying mining water pipe running above the canyon. These climbers were of the curious and eager sort and they went ahead and put a few more holes in the pipe. The locals were quick-minded and caught on to the possibilities. Instead of simply repairing the pipe, they installed a sprinkler system that runs in the evening. Layer upon layer of ice began to bubble from the canyon wall, an amorphous, slippery, chaotic wall. Nature spewed this icy blue “cement” down its walls for people from all over the world to climb it. The town now rustles a bit in the winter from the tourism.
Ouray is also where the Natural Resource Learning Program brings students to learn beginning and intermediate ice climbing. Beginning climbers learn anchors, belaying and some technique. Intermediate climbers mock lead, resting on one axe to place protection. With ice climbing it’s an ice screw instead of a cam. You stand below the blue behemoth with crampons (which are outer metal footwear that clip onto boots and have points to provide traction on ice), ice tools in either hand, a rope to your waist and doubt floating in your head.
All this human hammered equipment is meant to take humans into places not naturally formed for biped travel. The crampons’ front points pierce the ice and the lowering of one’s heel engages the secondary points. A flick of an ice axe here, and the other axe there and all that holds you to the wall is an inch or two of steel, holding like a cat on a tree. On every route ice chunks are knocked loose, some the size of grapes, others the size of watermelons. That’s when the warning “Ice!” is yelled like fore on a golf course. The ice chunks speed helter-skelter down into the yellow river below. Some victims are splashed with river water, others are caught in the shins. Whatever the case, looking up is not a good idea. The steel can slip, reacting to a bad placement or a nervous arm or leg, giving one’s heart an extra kick. Steam from each climber tends to fog his or her goggles and all one can aim for is the murky frozen blue and white and hope not to hit rope in the process. When the rope lifts, a climber is at
the top, where the anchors can be seen. Each climber gives an obligatory yell to the bottom to “lower” and an all-too-brief dance is done.
The end of the day is a ritual of shedding layers, feeling for the bumps and bruises, and the ache of muscles that were previously undiscovered. The rest of the day is spent eating a meal and drinking water after the long day. Then a different kind of fun begins.
A ride to the hot springs in town are next, along with a rest in 100-degree water. The locals are easy to pick out by their slow drawl and their talk of daily cares instead of a day of hugging onto cold slabs of ice. It is mostly quiet and if one must talk it feels polite to do it in a whisper. The steam from the water mixes with the empty space above and clouds the view of the stars. On an ice climb in Ouray, nature offers the ability for a full belly, a wetted whistle, and it has even allowed each climber to think that today he or she was equal to that ultimate force8212;or at least that one has not yet been conquered by it.
Ouray, Colorado serves as a base for beginning and intermediate ice climbing. Students can explore the icefalls in a canyon just outside the town?s limits.
Ice climbing requires both physical endurance and technical knowledge, providing climbers with a unique challenge in winter conditions.