Steep Ice Climbing Clinic

Refine your steep ice climbing technique and improve your efficiency on challenging routes with personalized instruction. Our 2-day Steep Ice Climbing clinic is designed for ice climbers with previous experience who want to hone their efficiency and movement skills on steeper routes. Skyward Mountaineering AMGA Alpine guides are expert ice climbing instructors with decades of experience customizing their teaching styles and feedback to help climbers make improvements in their climbing abilities. This small ratio course gives each climber opportunities for 1-on-1 time to target and train specific areas for individual improvement.

During the Steep Ice Climbing course in the Ouray Ice Park you will learn:

  • Review of foundational ice climbing techniques

  • Body positioning for steeper and three dimensional ice routes

  • Creative resting and recovery strategies

Ice axe icon, depicting the type of guided climbing for this trip.

Intermediate/advanced ice climbing course

Icon of a mountain, depicting the prerequisites required for the guided trip.

Previous toprope ice climbing experience required. Climbers should be comfortable climbing WI4-

Calendar and clock icon, depicting the length of the Alaska Range expedition.

3 full days (8 hours each)
See open enrollment dates below or choose custom dates

Waypoint icon, depicting the location of the guided trip.

Ouray, Colorado

Improve your efficiency on steep pillars

  • Your guide will discuss course logistics, your goals, learning outcomes and conditions updates in the days prior to the course.

    07:00 Meet your guide and fellow course participants at a local bakery in Ouray for a meet and greet with a quick breakfast and coffee before heading out for the Steep Ice Climbing course.
    07:30 A short drive up the road to the Ouray Ice Park. A short hike to the climbing area and an overview of building toprope anchors.
    08:00 We will begin with an assessment of your skills, identifying and prioritizing areas for improvement. Your instructor will model proper techniques and demonstrate unique drills to address your individual needs.
    12:00 We will continue to climb and refine steep ice climbing techniques with customized instruction and feedback.
    15:30 Wrap up the day and hike out of the Ouray Ice Park. Drive back to Ouray and finish the course for the day. We highly recommend relaxing with an après-climb soak in the town’s hot springs.

  • 07:30 Meet your guide at the Ouray Ice Park parking lot and gear up for day.
    08:00 After setting up anchors and reviewing skills from the previous day, we will continue to apply and hone steep ice climbing strategies. We seek out a variety of terrain that challenges you and with individualized and precision based instruction you can be successful.
    15:00 At the end of the day your instructor will provide you with recommendations for continued technique development.
    15:30 We’ll wrap up the climbing and walk back to the cars.

An ice climber in an orange jacket is leading up a pillar of ice and surmounting an overhanging roof feature.
A person in a yellow jacket and orange helmet is top rope ice climbing a steep wall of ice in the Ouray Ice Park with an orange river below.
A person in a yellow jacket is lead climbing a narrow pillar of ice. He is wrapping his leg around the pillar and delicately swinging his ice tool above.
A person in a red jacket and white and orange helmet is ice climbing on a steep frozen waterfall. He is stemming his leg behind him for balance on a snowy rock protrusion.
Person ice climbing on a frozen waterfall with ice tools and crampons, secured by a bright green climbing rope, on a clear winter day.
A climber is being belayed from above while they ice climb a steep pillar of blue ice in the Ouray Ice Park.
An ice climber in a red jacket is climbing a steep pillar of ice.
Person ice climbing on a frozen waterfall with ice tools and crampons, secured by a bright green climbing rope, on a clear winter day.
A person in a blue jacket is lead ice climbing on a steep route in the Ouray Ice Park.
Two ice climbers ascended a frozen waterfall in a narrow canyon with snow and ice, above a snow-covered ground.

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Two ice climbers ascending a frozen multipitch waterfall in the Ouray Ice Park. The lower climber is belaying the lead climber.
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Questions?

Our office staff are guides, climbers and skiers - we’re here to help!