Pitkin County to improve Redstone ice climbing access and land conservation
Courtesy photo from Redstone Castle
In collaboration with the owner, Pitkin County on Wednesday took strong initial steps to expand public land access and conservation for the Redstone Castle.
They initially approved an easement that would give ice climbers winter privileges to approach popular ice climb “Redstone Pillar,” a 100-foot route located 1,100 feet above the valley floor, through the privately-owned Redstone Castle property. The approach through the property would remain open between Nov. 15 and April 15. Pitkin County commissioners approved the ordinance on Wednesday.
“I want to stress for the general public, this is not a trail easement that is open year-round; this is open only in the winter for purposes of this ice climb,” said Dale Will, Acquisition Director for Pitkin County Open Space & Trails. “For the ice climbers of the world, this is a really significant gain for us.”
Will said they are happy to gain permission from landowner Stephane De Baets, who owns the Redstone Castle, a 1902 mansion nestled above the Crystal River community that has accommodated Teddy Roosevelt and the Rockefellers. The castle is now used as a retreat.
The easement will allow the county to build and maintain the single-track trail, named the “Pillar Ice Climbing Trail,” according to the ordinance. The Redstone Pillar is located about a third of a mile uphill from the private property bridged by the trail, on the border of county-owned land and U.S. Forest Service land.
The trail furthers a long history of ice climbing in Colorado, with Ouray claiming the largest man-made ice park in the world.
Along with the trail access, the county approved on first reading the creation of a roughly 88-acre conservation easement on the Redstone Castle property.
The easement restricts future development on the land, joining the adjacent privately protected Sawmill Hill Conservation Easement and the county-owned Sawmill Hill Open Space in preserving the natural habitat of the hillside to the east of Redstone.
“We’ve been pushing this conservation protection down the slope towards the castle,” Will said. “And this 88-acre conservation easement supports that.”
The dividing line for the conservation easement begins at 7,400 feet, for the most part, and continues upward, according to the ordinance.
The ordinance mentions the land is important to elk and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep winter range as well as providing important riparian areas and mixed conifer-quaking aspen forests for animals including elk, deer, bear, mountain lion, badger, coyote, fox, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.
The land will also yield outdoor recreation opportunities for the public, as the Pillar Ice Climbing Trail will cross a portion of the easement.
Will said there are slight discrepancies on the edges of the easement boundary line that they will define for second reading.
“The boundary discrepancies in our maps we’re looking at are minor in the grand scheme of things,” he said. “This is about 88 acres, and we’re talking about an acre or two that we need to resolve on the edges of it.”
The commissioners will review both ordinances in a second reading March 12.
Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.
Pitkin County to improve Redstone ice climbing access and land conservation
In collaboration with the owner, Pitkin County on Wednesday took strong initial steps to expand public land access and land conservation for the Redstone Castle.
