Guided Ice Climbing Trips
Explore Colorado’s Best Ice Climbing Routes
Book a private guided ice climbing trip in Colorado! Learn to ice climb in the Ouray Ice Park, improve your technique on steep ice, or climb classic multipitch routes in the San Juan Mountains. Founded in 1996, in the premier ice climbing venue of Ouray, Colorado, Skyward Mountaineering’s small team of AMGA certified guides continue to provide personalized guiding throughout the winter in Ouray as well as other destinations such as the Lake City Ice Park and Rifle Mountain Park.
Improve Your Ice Climbing Skills in the Ouray Ice Park
Custom ice climbing instruction catered to your goals and abilities, ranging from introductory to advanced movement techniques and learning to lead. The Ouray Ice Park has routes for all abilities, from WI3 to WI6.
Climb a Multipitch Route in The San Juan Mountains
Ouray and the surrounding mountain towns of Silverton and Telluride are stacked with excellent multipitch routes, classics such as Stairway To Heaven in Eureka, Bridal Veil Falls in Telluride, and The Ribbon in Ouray are popular options with unique challenges.
Schedule: Full day (8 hours) of ice climbing during a guided day, though bigger backcountry routes may take 10-12 hours to complete the objective.
Group Size: All ice climbing trips are offered with a maximum of 4 climbers per guide for toproping trips and 2 climbers per guide for multipitch ice climbing.
Prerequisites: No prerequisites required for learning how to ice climb. Backcountry multipitch ice climbing routes require previous toprope ice climbing experience.
Trip Descriptions: Beginner to advanced ice climbing with routes options varying from WI3 to WI6 and and mixed climbing from M4 to M10.
Locations: Guided ice climbing trips throughout Colorado’s best ice climbing destinations: Ouray, Lake City, and Rifle. We also offer international ice climbing trips to Canada, Norway and others.
Pricing: Varies based on the trip.
Expert-led Ice Climbing Adventures For All Abilities, from Novice Climbers to Experts
Our guides tailor each trip to your specific goals and ability, whether you’re a gym climber wanting to learn how to swing ice tools, this is your first time tying into a rope, you’ve been climbing for years but can’t break past the WI4 plateau, or want to climb a challenging, long multipitch route with a partner you can trust. We remove the learning curve and provide expert, detail-oriented instruction so you can maximize the Type 1 fun.
New to Ice Climbing: Learn the fundamentals in a supportive, hands-on environment. We truly believe the Ouray Ice Park is the best venue in North America to learn how to ice climb, with the highest concentration of easily accessible ice.
Intermediate Climbers: Improve your technique, climb steeper ice, and develop the skills needed for longer and more challenging routes.
Advanced Climbers: Take on classic multipitch ice and mixed routes with a guide who can help you select an objective that matches your experience and goals. Routes like Bridal Veil Falls in Telluride or Bird Brain Boulevard in Ouray are excellent examples of some of the challenging routes our guides love to help climbers succeed on.
From instruction and skill development to full-day guided climbs, every trip is customized to help you climb safely, efficiently, and confidently.
Guided Ice Climbing In Colorado
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![A guide in a yellow jacket is leading a steep ice climbing route in the Ouray Ice Park.]()
Beginner to advanced ice climbing in the Ouray Ice Park, North America’s most concentrated ice climbing destination.
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![A guide is leading a steep pitch of ice on a pillar above Ouray, Colorado.]()
Beginner to advanced backcountry ice and mixed climbing in Ouray, Colorado.
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![An ice climber in a blue jacket and orange and white helmet is swinging her ice tool into a steep pillar in Eureka, Colorado.]()
Intermediate to advanced ice climbing on backcountry multipitch routes in Silverton, Colorado.
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![A guide leads the steep classic route, Bridal Veil Falls in Telluride, Colorado.]()
Advanced ice climbing on Bridal Veil Falls, in Telluride, Colorado.
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![An ice climber in an orange jacket and red helmet is a leading a multipitch route in the Lake City Park.]()
Beginner to advanced toprope and multipitch ice climbing in Lake City Ice Park and the surrounding backcountry.
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![An ice climber is swinging his ice tool into a blue pillar of ice.]()
Intermediate to advanced toprope ice climbing on steep pillars and daggers.
Why Choose Skyward Mountaineering As Your Guide For Ice Climbing In Ouray?
Skyward Mountaineering is recognized throughout the mountain guiding industry for its professionalism, expert guides and unique approach. We have decades of experience leading ice climbing and technical mountaineering objectives, and our guides have established multiple first ascents throughout the San Juan Mountains and around the world. We have also consistently been among the first (and often the only) guide service to successfully guide some of the most challenging routes. Our deep local knowledge of Ouray, combined with a passion for detail-oriented, personalized instruction, allows us to provide an unparalleled guided ice climbing experience.
With world-class access to ice climbing in the Ouray Ice Park and backcountry multipitch ice climbing routes throughout the San Juan Mountains, Ouray has long been a cornerstone of our guiding. The experiences we’ve built with climbers in Ouray has formed the backbone of our guided trips and expeditions to remote mountain ranges and exceptional destinations throughout Colorado, the Canadian Rockies, Alaska, Norway, and beyond. We remain a small guide service, but our trips are anything but.