How ice farmers grow massive frozen climbing walls in the Uncompahgre Gorge

It stretches over 1.5km long and rises over 45m high, covered in the most spectacular ice falls anyone has ever seen. And it’s all man-made…

Welcome to the Ouray Ice Park, situated at the north end of the Uncompahgre Gorge, located close to the town of Ouray, known as Colorado’s ‘Little Switzerland’.

The Ouray Ice Park is the world’s premier location for ice climbing, attracting enthusiasts from around the world, and the people who create its impressive frozen terrain every winter call themselves ‘ice farmers’.

This video explores how they create the frozen marvel that is such a playground for climbers.

Ice farmers rely on a complicated system of above-ground plumbing and intimate knowledge of ice to build this frozen marvel. But even ice farmers can be caught off guard by the behaviour of ice and water, thanks to the unique properties of the water molecule…

View the original video here.

Good Living is the Cyprus Mail’s portal of curated content from across the internet, showcasing local and global ideas, cultural highlights, and scientific and technological developments to inspire a sustainable life.