Brett Merlin: Things I wish I knew before attending the Ouray Ice Festival

633 South Broadway,Boulder CO 80305

05 January, 2023

Description

Every January, hundreds of ice climbers show up to Ouray, Colorado for the infamous Ouray Ice Festival. This festival is a major fundraiser for Ice Park operations. The Ice Park is an incredible place to learn to ice climb for many reasons, one being that there are very convenient approaches to big steep ice climbs that you can belay from above often without having to lead. However, ice climbing is VERY different than rock climbing. The gear and even some of the technical systems can be tricky if you strictly come from a rock climbing background. These pointers will hopefully help you navigate your first ice climbing trip to the Ouray Ice Festival and even your first ice climbing outing. Over the years we have witnessed countless rock climbers flounder in the Ice Park due to lack of understanding of the inherent dangers of ice climbing as well as unfamiliarity with how to manage this unique terrain. This clinic will be all the things I WISH I knew before my first trip to the Ouray Ice Festival or my first ice climbing outing to hopefully make your trip as smooth as possible. Brett Merlin has been an avid climber for 30 years and serves as the Western States Territory Manager for CAMP Technical Adventure Equipment. As a climber and rep working this Fest for years, he has seen too many mistakes that set back climbers from a smooth day of climbing that could have been easily avoided.