COLORADO — 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.
“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 Thursday 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.
“I've been receiving A LOT of messages regarding the lake,” Our Gang Ice Racing President Jodi Conley wrote in the Facebook post. “As of last week it was still open with 4-5 inches around the outside of it. We are actively monitoring the weather and lake conditions.
"At this point we are at the mercy of Mother Nature! Nothing that anyone can control.”
Another ice driving event series in Georgetown, hosted by Arctikhana, also saw its season opener canceled, but its February events are still open for registration, the website shows.
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 are tracking in the right direction four weeks ahead of the tournament, he said.
Grand Lake’s pond hockey tournament set for Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 is still on too, and right now, there aren’t any plans to cancel, an employee at the town’s visitor center said.
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.
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