Peter O’Neil knew that the Ouray Ice Park would have a rough year after the first week of December.

Following Thanksgiving weekend, a solid layer of farmed ice sheets formed along the sides of Uncompahgre Gorge. Days later, the southwest Colorado town hit 50 degrees — an uncommonly warm temperature for December. O’Neil, executive director of Ouray Ice Park Inc., estimated that the canyon has now lost around 75% of the ice that formed in November.

It has been a rough start to the winter at local ice attractions as the state has seen extended stretches of unseasonably warm days and the snowpack sits near the lowest levels since 1987.

Ouray Ice Park did not open at all in December, and only a few weeks remain before the two biggest weekends of the year for the international ice-climbing attraction. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend is followed by the 31st annual Ouray Ice Festival, slated to run from Jan. 22-25.

“It’s stressful because the whole economy is tied to the ice park. It’s not a great situation. All we can do is hope and pray that the temperatures get colder,” O’Neil said.

The ice park’s opening has drifted later in the year over the past few decades. The wall would open before Thanksgiving, around the time that Ouray Ice Park Inc. was established in 1997 to oversee the ice operations in an official capacity. It now regularly opens for the season in early December.

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The ice park has expanded over the past 30 years, drawing thousands of ice climbers. Sprinkler heads line the top edge of the canyon wall and weep during the winter nights, forming new ice sheets as they drip down the walls. In a normal winter, the ice wall will cover the sides of the canyon for up to 2 miles and have spots up to four feet thick.

“We’ve never had to make the call if we could open with 6 inches of ice or 1 foot of ice,” O’Neil said.

The ice canyon has become essential to the town’s economy. A financial impact report estimated that ice climbing in the park brought in around $18 million to Ouray during the 2021-2022 season, thanks to the festival, equipment rentals and overnight stays.

At the Ouray Visitors Center, Guest Services Manager Emma Stevenson has a new slogan for the winter: “No snow, but Ouray has got more things to show.” Stevenson said she has been trying to sell the visitors who usually come for ice climbing on the four hot springs in the area and the potential for hikes and snowshoe trips.

“Ice climbing would usually have about three months of the season, so it’s definitely not the way we were expecting this to go,” Stevenson said.

OPENING DELAYS AT OTHER ICE ATTRACTIONS

Colorado’s other ice attractions have also seen delays. The Cripple Creek Ice Castle location has not yet opened. However, Marketing Director Amanda Roseth said a cold snap the last weekend of December allowed staff to put in significant work, and a news release Friday announced a Jan. 10 opening.

The Silverthorne Ice Castle location opened Dec. 19 because that section of the Rocky Mountains had been several degrees colder than Cripple Creek.

“Ice Castles (in Cripple Creek) was nearly complete in mid-December when a historic warm-up temporarily halted ice growing,” the news release from officials explained.

The annual New Year’s Day plunge in Evergreen Lake didn’t take place this year. Sponsors said in mid-December that the ice across the top of the lake was less than two inches thick, which was not enough to support the expected crowds. The lake also serves most winters as one of the largest groomed outdoor skating rinks in North America.

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Rifle Mountain Park holds a trail of caves that became a draw for their picturesque natural ice growth. Michael Schneiter, an outdoor guide and member of the Rifle Climbers Coalition board, said rock climbing on the outside of the caves has replaced ice climbing in some areas of the park. Inside the caves, ice stalactites may have finally solidified in the last few days.

“This year it’s just not cold enough, which has been the story everywhere,” Schneiter said.