you could shorten them a bit to keep the paths clear. I dont fully prune mine until march.
welcome to GoY too

Yes they were pruning back the climbing roses on Gardeners World this week, if you have catchup t.v you can see how they were doing it.

This is a Patio rose not a climber Maggy 7 I dont prune mine till the spring either.

And the person asking the question lives in the States!

Spring is Spring wherever you live MG?

Yes spring is spring and depending where you live you prune at different times!

I thought the usa being in the northern hemisphere had spring pretty much the same time as us.
when new growth starts to show prune it then. :o)

Getting confused here MG - my sister-in-law in Boston prunes hers about when I prune mine.

And we don't know where in the vast tracts of the US Newbirosegrower lives. Please let us know which zone you're in NBRG as I think that may be what makes the difference. Lots of us are in the UK where our weather approximately matches your zones 7 - 9.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardiness_zone#Britain_and_Ireland_Hardiness_Zones

where there is a discussion of hardiness zones around the world as well as heat zones, which are also important.

id do it in early spring what ever myself . as drc726 sais spring is spring wear ever you are .

Just getting their first frost now probably puts them in zone 8b, in which case, major pruning should probably be done in mid February.