Ouray Ice Climbing With a Baby: Tips for Adventurous Parents

Earlier this year, my husband and I were invited on an ice climbing trip to Ouray, Colorado. Despite having a two-month-old baby, we just couldn’t turn down the adventure. Because we didn’t have a babysitter, we decided just to bring her with us!

It ended up being such a fun trip and the best time! So, here are my tips and tricks that made it a great experience!

Ouray Ice Park

Ouray is a small mountain town in Colorado that is home to the only ice climbing park in the United States. It is a great place for beginner ice climbers because of the access ability of the climbs and because you can set up a top rope anywhere on the wall. This way, risky lead climbing on ice can be avoided.

Here is the link to the park website if you want to check it out: https://ourayicepark.com/ (also it is free!)

Pack Warm

For our girl we had her wear a bass layer of a fleece footie onesie, then we had a fluffy bear suit on top with a down puffy snow suit on top of that. We also packed lots of hats and socks and blankets. If she seemed warm we just took off a layer starting with the hat.

Feeding the Baby

Whether you breastfeed, pump or formula feed you can totally still go ice climbing. I usually breastfeed with some extra pumping on the side just to keep my supply up. What i did was pump in the morning before heading over to the ice park and I just brought the milk with me. Then I just kept it in the snow to keep it cold. It was perfect! However I don’t think breastfeeding would be too hard as long as you have a camp chair or something to sit on.

Day 1

Bringing your baby ice climbing can be a little trickier than rock climbing because of the falling ice. On our first day at the ice park we climbed at a more beginner friendly spot that was close to the road. this was perfect because we just set up a spot on a picnic table right outside of the falling ice area. This way she was able to be safely outside of the helmet and crampons required area. And of course always remember to bring all of the necessary protective gear for yourself to stay safe while climbing!!

Day 2

On day two we decided to go with our group to a more challenging spot. This involved setting up top ropes on the climbs that we wanted to do and then making our way down into the canyon. Instead of rappelling or down climbing into the canyon like most people, I wrapped baby to me and made the longer hike down to be safe.

In order to avoid falling ice in this area, we set up a baby spot of the other side of the little creek that runs though the canyon and kept her over there the entire time.

Overall Experience

Ice climbing is one of the funnest things that I have done. Overall, going with our baby was a great experience because we all had a great time. Going to the Ouray Ice Park made it all possible and was an amazing place to take our little girl for one of her first road trips. She was so well behaved and cried far less than she does spending a day at home because she had so many things to see.