Photo Reflection – Ice Climbing and Ice Farming at the Silos in OKC

Given the weather conditions lately here in Oklahoma I wondered if anyone else might be reminiscing about ice climbing at the silos in Oklahoma City. So here’s a little throwback to those days! These photos progress from the earliest ice climb in 2010 to the last one which was on 2013. Although years ago, I still get asked about the ice climb and still hear stories about them.

The first ice climb was “farmed” in January of 2010. That climb was on the front of the silos and was about 30 feet in height. It was fairly experimental but it turned out to work well, was very strong and set the stage for the years to come.

The next season I raised the height of the ice climb to about 50 feet. It was about 6 feet wide but we later expanded it to three times as wide. It made for quite a spectacle. We got national coverage about it on CNN and then lots of local outlets covered it as well.

Check out this link for a photo slideshow and short audio interview with myself – this is from 2011. https://oklahoman.com/article/3532180/in-oklahoma-city-ice-climbing-is-the-coolest-thing?

The second season of the ice climb – the 2011 season – was incredible. But the issue was that the water flow across the parking lot made for hazardous conditions.

In 2013 I decided I wanted a dedicated area for the ice climb so we relocated it to an area between the two sets of silos and called it the ice corridor. This really was a cool spot and the climb had the makings of becoming a regular thing. I added layers and layers of chain link fence, rope and materials for the ice to form on.

In subsequent years, warmed temperatures prevailed and other things took precedent – so the ice climbing wall took a back seat. But now, in conditions like we are experiencing this season with days and days of below freezing temperatures, I imagine how large of an ice structure one might be able to create.