DENVER — Abnormally warm temperatures across the state are putting winter events on thin ice.
This season's balminess is forcing cancellations, postponements and even an ice-less ice festival. Keystone’s 9280 Pond Hockey Tournament is the latest victim.
Head to the bottom of this story for the most up-to-date list of cancellations.
“We are beyond sad to announce that the 2026 - 9280 Pond Hockey Tournament has officially been canceled due to warm temps causing the ice to be too thin to safely host the Tournament,” a Jan. 15 Instagram post announced of the event set for Jan. 23 weekend.
The all-ages tournament on Keystone Lake began in 2015 and drew 220 teams from across the country in its 2025 event, according to the tournament's website.
Earlier this year, two Georgetown events that see cars and four-wheelers racing across Georgetown Lake were canceled too.
Our Gang Ice Racing, a club that’s been around for half a century, had to call off its first weekend of events for the season, saying the ice was too thin and they were “erring on the side of caution.”
A Jan. 14 Facebook post said the club would provide an update in the coming week on whether it can hold its Jan. 24 and Jan. 25 events, but ultimately the events were canceled. The club's events for the weekend of Feb. 7 and beyond were still on as of Jan. 22, but the weekend of Feb. 7 was canceled Jan. 29.
"At this point we are at the mercy of Mother Nature! Nothing that anyone can control,” Our Gang Ice Racing President Jodi Conley wrote in a Jan. 14 Facebook post.
Arctikhana, which hosts both public and private ice driving events in Georgetown, also had to cancel its public season opener. February events are still open for registration — at least for now.
"The rest of the season is still scheduled, but we’re having to closely monitor, and if the weather doesn’t cooperate, we will have to cancel these events due to safety," the company's co-founder Donny Cryer said in mid-January. Cryer said at the time there needed to be at least 12 inches of good quality ice in order to have cars on the lake, and it would likely take average temps of 15-20 degrees for at least a week to get there. On Feb. 4, the company canceled the rest of its events for the season.
"We were hopeful that the stretch of single-digit overnight lows during the weekend of January 24-25 would improve conditions, but it did not," an email announcing the cancellation said.
"With the upcoming forecast calling for multiple sunny days with highs in the upper 30s to upper 40s, there simply isn’t enough time or sustained cold weather for the lake to safely repair itself," the email said.
Mountains
Cars enthusiasts brave the cold to test driving skills on frozen Georgetown Lake
The Town of Georgetown announced Jan. 16 that the ice on the lake was "limited and unsafe," and that ice fishing was currently prohibited.
"Ice conditions vary significantly throughout the lake, and ice thickness and stability cannot be reliably determined," the announcement said. "These unseasonable conditions pose serious safety risks to anyone accessing the ice."
Farther west, the Ouray Ice Park announced it would go ice-less for the 2026 Ice Climbing Festival scheduled for Jan. 22-25.
"This season, the temperatures have been uncharacteristically warm," the festival's website states. "We have been listening closely to the canyon, and right now, the ice simply isn't forming to a standard that is safe for climbing. Out of respect for the environment and for the safety of our climbers, we are cancelling on-ice climbing clinics for the 2026 Ouray Ice Festival."
Up in Routt County, the Stage Coach Ice Fishing Tournament ultimately fell through due to warm weather and lack of ice coverage after it was initially postponed from Jan. 3 to Jan. 17.
Meanwhile, the Recess Factory's Pabst Pond Hockey Tournament in Georgetown is still on for President’s Day weekend.
That event, which was once held on Lake Dillon, has never been canceled in its 16 years of operation, according to the organization’s webpage. Recess Factory Owner David Janowiec told Denver7 that won't be changing this year.
"In all scenarios, we have a contingency plan for no cancellation," he wrote in a text. "The event will happen 100%."
Weather and ice were tracking in the right direction four weeks ahead of the tournament, he said.
Some good news: Grand Lake’s pond hockey tournament happened Jan. 31 and Feb. 1and Leadville's Fat Bike World Championships Jan. 23-25 was also a go.
December 2025 was the second-warmest December on record in Denver, and it’s also been the driest ever start to the snow season, Denver7 has reported. Farmers, ski resorts, snow plow fleets and golf courses have also been impacted by the abnormally warm, dry winter.
Status of events (last updated Feb. 4):
Jan. 9 weekend
- Our Gang Ice Racing in Georgetown: CANCELED
Jan. 17 weekend
- Stage Coach Ice Fishing Tournament: CANCELED
- Arctikhana ice driving in Georgetown: CANCELED
Jan. 23 weekend
- Keystone pond hockey tournament: CANCELED
- Our Gang Ice Racing in Georgetown: CANCELED
- Ouray Ice Climbing Fest: Ice-less (but still happened)
Jan. 31 weekend
- Grand Lake Pond Hockey Tournament (Jan. 31-Feb.1): HAPPENED
Feb. 7 weekend
- Our Gang Ice Racing in Georgetown (Feb. 7-8): CANCELED
Feb. 14 weekend:
- Pabst Pond Hockey Tournament in Georgetown (Feb. 13-15): Still on
- Arctikhana ice driving in Georgetown (Feb. 15-16): CANCELED
- Cripple Creek Ice Festival (Weekend One: Feb. 14-16) : Still on
Feb. 21 weekend:
- Cripple Creek Ice Festival (Weekend Two: Feb. 21-22): Still on
- Our Gang Ice Racing in Georgetown (Feb. 21-22): Still on
Feb. 28 weekend:
- Our Gang Ice Racing in Georgetown (Feb. 28-March 1): Still on
Ongoing:
- Evergreen ice rink: Opened Jan. 23 (check conditions here)
- Ouray ice rink: WILL NOT OPEN THIS SEASON (read more here)
- Ouray Ice Park: Opened Jan. 21 (check conditions here)
- Avon's Nottingham Lake ice skating: WILL NOT OPEN THIS SEASON
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