OURAY, Colo. — Ouray's ice rink will not open this year, marking another hit on a growing list of Colorado events and activities that have been altered, delayed or canceled due to the lack of snow across the state.
"Due to unseasonably warm temperatures the ice rink will not open this year," the City of Ouray Parks posted on social media. "The Ouray ice rink has no overhead cover, frost free water lines, or concrete pad to hold the ice in place. The ice rink relies entirely on ambient weather."
The parks department for the small city, nestled in the San Juan Mountains, exhausted almost 30% of its maintenance labor to be able to open the popular rink this year, it said, but they were not successful.
Denver7 previously reported that the Ouray Ice Park announced it would go ice-less for the 2026 Ice Climbing Festival scheduled for Jan. 22-25.
"The Ouray Ice Park has always been a collaboration between human effort and the natural world," the ice park's website reads. "We cultivate the ice, but nature provides the canvas. This season, the temperatures have been uncharacteristically warm. 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."
Instead, they will continue climbing competitions, parties and clinics — just without the ice.
"We flow with the season," the ice park wrote.
The park was able to open for the season on Wednesday after a recent cold snap that the ice park called a "gamechanger." It allowed ice farmers to work and create safe conditions for ice climbing.
Ouray will stay in the 40s and 30s through Saturday, with temperatures dipping slightly Sunday before bouncing back into the 30s and 40s next week. The good news is the area has a high chance of seeing snowfall Friday and Saturday.
As of Wednesday, statewide snowpack sits at 57%. The snowpack in this area remains well below average.
Ouray County remains in a moderate drought, along with about 47% of the state, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor as of Jan. 13.
It shows that roughly 15% of Colorado is in a severe drought, 4.5% is in extreme drought and 0.83% is in exceptional drought.
The first three months of the 2025-26 snow season, from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, were the driest on record, Denver Water officials previously told Denver7.
